Free Line Cook Job Description Templates
Free line cook job description templates: standard, prep, grill, fast casual, and independent. Download as DOCX and customize for your kitchen.
Line Cook Job Description Templates
5 free templates by station and setting. Download as DOCX or copy-paste.
A line cook is the engine of your kitchen during service: setting up the station, cooking menu items to spec, plating fast, and keeping it all clean and safe under pressure. My advice to any owner hiring a line cook is to write the posting for the exact station and setting, which is how the templates on this page are organized.
For a small or independent restaurant, line cook is one of the hardest roles to fill and one you will hire for often. The job description you write sets the station, the experience level, and the expectations, and it is your first filter for a reliable cook.
At FirstHR, we build for small restaurants and kitchens where the owner or chef handles hiring directly. The five templates below cover the most common versions of the role: standard, prep, grill/station, fast casual/entry-level, and small independent restaurant. Each is ready to use. Fill in the bracketed fields, adjust to match your kitchen, and post.
Which Template Should You Use?
Pick the template that matches your kitchen and the station you are hiring for. The core structure is the same across all five, but each one emphasizes the duties, experience level, and setting that fit a specific kind of cook role. Use this guide to choose.
5 Free Line Cook Job Description Templates
Download all five as separate Word files in one ZIP, or copy individual templates. Each one covers the job summary, key responsibilities, qualifications, compensation, and how to apply, and the Standard template adds a short section about your restaurant. Fill in the brackets before you post.
Template 1: Standard Line Cook
The all-purpose version for most full-service restaurants. Station setup, cooking to spec, plating, and food safety, with an hourly pay range. Start here if the role fits a standard line cook.
Template 2: Prep Cook
For kitchens with a dedicated prep role. Focuses on mise en place, chopping and portioning, labeling and storage, and entry-level requirements. Use this for a prep-focused position.
Template 3: Grill / Station Cook
For grill, BBQ, and burger concepts. Adds grilling technique, temperature control, and running a specific station during service. Use this when the role centers on the grill.
Template 4: Fast Casual / Entry-Level Line Cook
For fast casual and quick service. Emphasizes assembly speed, no-experience-required hiring, flexible shifts, and on-the-job training. Use this when you are willing to train.
Template 5: Small / Independent Restaurant Line Cook
For a small independent restaurant. A versatile cook who works multiple stations, reports to the owner, and pitches in across the kitchen. Use this for a tight-knit, all-around role.
What Does a Line Cook Do?
A line cook prepares and cooks menu items at an assigned station during service. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) groups line cooks under cooks, who season and prepare foods including soups, salads, entrees, and desserts. In practice, a line cook sets up and stocks the station, cooks dishes to recipe and spec, plates consistently, works fast during service, and keeps the area clean and food safe.
The role varies by station and setting. A prep cook handles mise en place and ingredient prep; a grill cook runs the grill; and a small-restaurant line cook works across several stations and helps wherever needed. That is why the job description should describe the specific role you are hiring for.
Line Cook Responsibilities and Duties
Line cook duties fall into four broad areas: cooking and service, station and prep, food safety, and teamwork. A strong job description selects the specific responsibilities from each area that apply to your kitchen rather than listing every possible task. These are the responsibilities most often expected of the role.
Specialist roles shift the balance. For a prep role, the duties center on mise en place and storage; for a grill role, they center on temperature control and station management.
What to Include in a Line Cook Job Description
Every strong line cook job description includes the same core sections: a summary of your restaurant and the role, key responsibilities, qualifications, pay and benefits, how to apply, and an equal opportunity statement. The templates above are built around them. What separates a strong posting from a vague one is the wording inside each section, as the table below shows.
| Weak bullet | Strong bullet |
|---|---|
| Cook food | Prepare and cook menu items to recipe and spec |
| Set up station | Set up and stock your station before service |
| Be clean | Follow food safety and sanitation standards |
| Work fast | Work efficiently during busy service |
| Plate dishes | Plate dishes consistently and to standard |
Specific, concrete duties attract candidates who understand the work and signal a serious kitchen. Keep the language neutral and inclusive too. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission draws a clear line on job ads: the EEOC prohibits job advertisements that show a preference based on protected characteristics.
Prep vs Line vs Grill Cook
A prep cook prepares ingredients before they reach the line, a line cook cooks menu items at an assigned station during service, and a grill cook is the line cook assigned to the grill. These roles are closely related and often confused, so knowing the difference helps you write the right job description and hire for the actual need.
| Role | Focus | Typical level |
|---|---|---|
| Prep Cook | Mise en place and ingredient prep | Entry-level, often trains in |
| Line Cook | Cooking a station during service | Some experience preferred |
| Grill / Station Cook | Running a specific station | Station-specific skill |
| Small-restaurant cook | Multiple stations and prep | Versatile generalist |
In a large kitchen these are separate jobs; in a small restaurant one cook often covers all of them. Use the template that matches how your kitchen actually works so the posting reflects the real role.
Requirements and Skills
Line cook requirements are practical: the role is about reliability, speed, and food safety more than formal credentials. Listing them accurately keeps your posting honest and attracts cooks who fit.
On the pay side, line cooks are hourly, non-exempt employees, which means overtime rules apply to them. Tips and tip pooling are also common in restaurants, and both overtime and tips fall under a federal law, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Review the Department of Labor FLSA standards on overtime and tip pooling when you set pay and structure compensation.
Tip pools that include cooks need one more check. Under the Department of Labor rules for tipped employees, a mandatory pool can include cooks and dishwashers only if every worker receives a direct cash wage (wages you pay, not tips) of at least the federal minimum wage. Under the same rules, the employer, managers, and supervisors may never take tips from the pool.
Line Cook Pay
Line cooks are paid hourly, with pay varying by region, restaurant type, and experience. Set your range using government data as a baseline, then adjust for your market. Many cooks also weigh shift meals and tips alongside the hourly rate, so name them in the posting when they apply.
According to research from the National Restaurant Association (2025), operators ranked chef and cook positions among the hardest restaurant roles to fill, so a competitive, transparent pay range helps a small restaurant compete. Always publish a range, since it is required in a growing number of states.
How to Write a Line Cook Job Description
A strong line cook job description is quick to write if you follow a clear structure. Here is the process the templates are built around.
Hiring a Line Cook for a Small Restaurant
In a small or independent restaurant, the owner or head chef writes the posting, runs trail shifts to see candidates cook, and onboards the new cook, often during service. A large restaurant group has a recruiting team, defined roles, and a full brigade kitchen with a cook on every station. Here is how to write the posting for a small kitchen.
From Hiring to Onboarding
The job description is step one. Once a cook accepts, the same document becomes the basis for the offer and onboarding. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, accommodation and food services averaged a 4.2% monthly quits rate in 2025, the highest of any industry. With that much turnover, a smooth, repeatable onboarding process pays off every time a station opens up.
A clear first day and simple food safety onboarding get a new cook contributing on the line quickly, which matters most in a kitchen that hires often.
When you are ready to make an offer, the offer letter template handles the next step, and an onboarding template gives the new hire a structured start. FirstHR connects the offer, employee files, e-signatures, food safety training built from your own procedures, and the onboarding workflow in one place, so a small restaurant can manage the full process.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a line cook do?
A line cook is the cook who turns orders into finished plates during service, working from an assigned station on the kitchen line. Before service starts, the job is stocking that station and finishing prep. Once orders arrive, it is cooking each dish to recipe and spec, plating it the same way every time, and keeping pace through the rush, while following sanitation and food safety standards and keeping the station clean. The Bureau of Labor Statistics files line cooks under its broader cooks occupation, whose work runs from soups and salads to entrees and desserts. Kitchen size shapes the job: in a small restaurant one cook often covers several stations and helps with prep, while a larger kitchen may give a cook a single station, such as the grill or saute.
What are the responsibilities and duties of a line cook?
Line cook responsibilities sort into four groups. Cooking and service means making each menu item to its recipe, plating it the same way every time, and keeping up when orders pile in. Station work includes setting up and stocking before service, doing the prep and mise en place, and breaking everything down at close. Food safety comes down to sanitation, temperature checks, and correct food storage. Teamwork is about talking through service and timing dishes with the other cooks on the line. Which group dominates depends on the job: prep cooks spend most of the shift on mise en place, grill cooks own the grill, and cooks in small restaurants rotate between stations.
What is the difference between a line cook and a prep cook?
A prep cook handles the preparation work before and during service: washing, chopping, and portioning ingredients, completing mise en place, and labeling and storing food. A line cook works the line during service, cooking and plating menu items to order at an assigned station. In simple terms, the prep cook gets everything ready and the line cook cooks it when orders come in. Prep cook is often an entry-level role and a common path to becoming a line cook. In a small kitchen, one person may do both. When you write the job description, be clear about which role you need so candidates understand the work.
What is the difference between a line cook and a grill cook?
A line cook is the general term for a cook who works a station on the line during service. A grill cook is a line cook who specifically runs the grill station, cooking proteins and items to the correct temperature and doneness and managing timing on the grill. Grill is one of several line stations, alongside saute, fry, and others. A grill cook needs strong temperature control and comfort working near high heat. In a small restaurant, a single line cook may cover the grill along with other stations. Use the grill template when the role centers on the grill, and the standard template for a general line position.
What qualifications does a line cook need?
A line cook needs practical qualifications more than formal credentials. For most openings, you will want some kitchen experience, a food handler permit or a willingness to get one, and a working knowledge of sanitation and safe food handling. Fast casual and entry-level kitchens often drop the experience requirement and train new cooks during their shifts. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says cooks usually learn through on-the-job training, with no formal education required. Physically, the cook has to stand for long stretches, lift kitchen supplies, and stay quick and steady during a rush. In a small restaurant, a dependable cook who will cover several stations is often worth more than an impressive resume.
How much does a line cook make?
Line cooks are paid hourly, and the national median sits just under $18 an hour. Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data for May 2025 put restaurant cooks, the occupation that includes line cooks, at a median of $17.98 per hour, a little above the $17.62 median for cooks as a whole. Among all cooks, the bottom tenth of earners made less than $12.85 an hour and the top tenth more than $22.84. BLS adds that the best-paying jobs tend to be in upscale hotels and restaurants and in big-city and resort markets. Some kitchens add shift meals, and some share tips with cooks where federal and state rules allow it. Put an hourly pay range in your posting either way, since a growing number of states require one.
How do I hire a line cook after writing the job description?
Post the job description, screen the applicants, and invite the strongest ones to a working interview or trail shift so you can watch them cook before you decide. Once you pick someone, reuse the description: its duties, schedule, and pay become the backbone of the offer and of onboarding. Put the offer in writing, gather the signed hiring paperwork, check the food handler permit, and plan a first day that walks through your stations, recipes, food safety procedures, and team. Restaurants replace cooks often, so a process you can run the same way every time saves real effort. FirstHR handles the offer letter, document storage, e-signatures, a food safety course made from your own kitchen procedures, and the onboarding workflow in one place so a small restaurant can move from job description to a productive new cook.