Specialty foods cook vs cook/server

The differences between specialty foods cooks and cook/servers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a specialty foods cook has an average salary of $31,497, which is higher than the $29,716 average annual salary of a cook/server.

The top three skills for a specialty foods cook include food handling, basic math and dishes. The most important skills for a cook/server are customer service, customer orders, and safety standards.

Specialty foods cook vs cook/server overview

	Specialty Foods Cook	Cook/Server
Yearly salary	$31,497	$29,716
Hourly rate	$15.14	$14.29
Growth rate	16%	14%
Number of jobs	189,118	257,582
Job satisfaction	-	4
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 50%	High School Diploma, 52%
Average age	38	23
Years of experience	4	-

Specialty foods cook vs cook/server salary

Specialty foods cooks and cook/servers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Specialty Foods Cook	Cook/Server
Average salary	$31,497	$29,716
Salary range	Between $25,000 And $39,000	Between $23,000 And $37,000
Highest paying City	Boston, MA	Bellingham, WA
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	Alaska
Best paying company	Ncar - The National Center For Atmospheric Research	The Harley School
Best paying industry	Retail	Retail

Differences between specialty foods cook and cook/server education

There are a few differences between a specialty foods cook and a cook/server in terms of educational background:

	Specialty Foods Cook	Cook/Server
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 50%	High School Diploma, 52%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Specialty foods cook vs cook/server demographics

Here are the differences between specialty foods cooks' and cook/servers' demographics:

	Specialty Foods Cook	Cook/Server
Average age	38	23
Gender ratio	Male, 72.7% Female, 27.3%	Male, 45.9% Female, 54.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.9% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 18.5% Asian, 7.0% White, 58.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2%	Black or African American, 9.6% Unknown, 6.9% Hispanic or Latino, 18.6% Asian, 6.5% White, 57.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage	6%	8%

Differences between specialty foods cook and cook/server duties and responsibilities

Specialty foods cook example responsibilities.

Develop ability to manage multiple stations simultaneously while maintaining high levels of culinary excellence.
Operate a large volume of cooking equipment such as grills, deep fryers, and griddles.
Collect orders from customers, clean dining room, wash dishes, safely cook food to customer liking.
Ensure food are stored and cook at correct temperatures by regulating temperature of oven, broilers, grills and roasters.
Bag merchandise by following standard procedures.maintain Drive-thru times.
Leverage teamwork to fully utilize kitchen staff to generate remarkable food and service to ensure customer satisfaction.

Cook/server example responsibilities.

Develop ability to manage multiple stations simultaneously while maintaining high levels of culinary excellence.
Assist customers, bag groceries, replenish carts, and clean store.
Pay close attention to detail while multitasking between communicating over the intercom, utilizing the POS, and order placing.
Make smoothies, coffee, customer service, cashier, fill bakery cooler, inventory, stock, and clean!
Operate the filtration system used for the fryers to keep all sanitation guidelines up to standards as per the health department.
Operate, and maintain clean and safe cooking equipment like pressure cooker deep fryers, plate grills, and deep fryers.

Specialty foods cook vs cook/server skills

Common specialty foods cook skills

Food Handling, 45%
Basic Math, 35%
Dishes, 5%
Food Service, 4%
Safety Standards, 3%
Food Products, 1%

Common cook/server skills

Customer Service, 41%
Customer Orders, 8%
Safety Standards, 6%
Food Preparation, 5%
Kitchen Equipment, 4%
POS, 4%

Specialty Foods Cook vs. similar jobs

Specialty Foods Cook related careers

Specialty Foods Cook related jobs

What similar roles do

Zippia Careers
Food Preparation and Restaurant Industry
Specialty Foods Cook
Specialty Foods Cook vs Cook/Server

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse food preparation and restaurant jobs