Resume template · Updated October 2026
Line cook resume template
Short answer
Meridian suits a line cook because its labelled skill rows come before the jobs, so your stations, knife work and food handler card are read first. The fictional sample works grill and sauté on 300-cover weekend nights at a busy restaurant and trains new cooks, after starting as a dishwasher and prep cook at a diner and earning a spot on the fry station.
Download the line cook sample
Diego is a fictional line cook. Replace every detail with your own before you send it.
The files are made in your browser by Resumity's own exporters, from this sample. The builder opens it as your own resume: click any line to replace it. Free plan, no watermark.
Why Meridian suits a line cook resume
Meridian prints Technical, Tools and Soft Skills rows above work experience. Kitchen managers hire line cooks by station (grill, sauté, fry, pantry) and by the equipment they can run, so listing those first lets a chef see at once where you fit on the line. Grey rules and no colour keep the page plain and quick to read.
Second choice: Leslie. Leslie puts experience first; better once you have held a station at a well-known kitchen and the job itself carries the story.
What goes in each section, in Meridian's order
Meridian prints its sections in a fixed order, the same in the PDF and the Word file. Here is that order for this sample, and what to put in each section.
- Professional Summary. Stations you can run, the kind of kitchen (scratch, high-volume casual, fine dining, hotel) and the busiest service you handle. Add that you open or close if you do.
- Skills. Technical lists stations and techniques: grill temperatures, sauté, fry, pantry, knife cuts, batch prep. Tools lists equipment (flat-top, charbroiler, combi oven, slicer) and the ticket system. Soft Skills suits calling and hearing tickets and keeping a clean station in the weeds.
- Work Experience. Show volume (covers per night), speed (ticket times), consistency (plates to spec, few send-backs) and responsibility (prep lists, closing, training). A move from dish or prep to the line deserves its own bullet.
- Education. A high school diploma, a culinary program or a school career course, one line each. Most line jobs do not need culinary school; the stations you can work count for more.
- Certifications. Your food handler card or certificate with its issuer and year. Requirements vary from state to state, so list the card your area asks for.
The sample resume as text
The same content as the files above, so you can copy a line or compare it with your own.
Diego Ramirez
Line Cook, Grill and Saute
Phoenix, AZ | diego.ramirez@example.com | (602) 555-0148
Line cook with four years in high-volume kitchens, working grill and saute on 300-cover weekend nights. Keeps tickets moving, follows specs and temperature logs, writes the morning prep list and trains new cooks on the grill.
Experience
Line Cook, Camelback Kitchen and Bar, Phoenix, AZ (05/2023 to Present)
- Work the grill and saute stations on dinner service, up to 300 covers on Friday and Saturday nights.
- Keep grill tickets near the kitchen's 12-minute target by setting mise en place to the station chart before service.
- Write the morning prep list from pars and the reservation count; label and date every batch.
- Log walk-in and hot-holding temperatures twice a shift for the inspection binder.
- Trained three new cooks on grill temperatures, plating specs and closing duties.
Prep Cook and Dishwasher, Desert Sun Diner, Tempe, AZ (08/2021 to 04/2023)
- Prepped vegetables, sauces and proteins for a 90-seat breakfast and lunch diner.
- Moved from dish to prep in three months and onto the fry station after a year.
- Kept the dish pit running through weekend brunch rushes.
Education
High School Diploma, Saguaro Flats High School (05/2021). Two-year culinary arts career program
Certifications
- ServSafe Food Handler Certificate, National Restaurant Association (2025)
Skills
Grill, Saute, Fry, Knife cuts, Batch prep, Sauces, Charbroiler and flat-top, Combi oven, Meat slicer, Kitchen display system, Calling and hearing tickets, Clean station under pressure
How to make the sample yours
Name your stations
Grill, sauté, fry, flat-top, pantry, pizza, expo. A chef filling a sauté opening scans for that word.
Give covers and ticket times
Covers on your busiest nights and the ticket time the kitchen aimed for. Use the kitchen display system's figures if you saw them.
Show you follow the system
Prep lists, par levels, labelling and dating, temperature logs, closing checklists. These keep a kitchen safe and are what a sous chef checks first.
Mention promotions in the kitchen
Dishwasher to prep, prep to line, line to trainer. It tells a chef you learn quickly and stay.
Match the kitchen style
Scratch kitchens want knife skills and sauces; high-volume chains want speed and spec; hotels want banquets and breakfast. Move the matching skills to the front of each row.
Keywords to keep where they are true
Terms this kind of resume is usually searched for. Use the posting's exact wording, and only for work you have done.
- line cook
- grill
- sauté
- fry station
- prep cook
- knife skills
- ticket times
- recipe specs
- food safety
- temperature logs
- food handler card
- mise en place
- high-volume kitchen
- cleaning and sanitation
Mistakes to avoid
- "Cooked food" with no station, volume or kitchen type.
- Claiming every station when you have covered some for only a shift or two.
- Leaving out promotions inside the kitchen, some of the best evidence a cook has.
- A list of cuisines you enjoy rather than cuisines you have cooked for paying guests.
How the sample PDF reads in text extractors
We exported this sample with Resumity's PDF exporter in Chrome on 2026-10-29 and read the file back with three open-source text extractors. This shows whether software that turns a PDF into text can recover it; it is not a test of any commercial applicant tracking system. How we test templates.
| Extractor | Name, email, phone | Headings | Bullets intact |
|---|---|---|---|
| pdf.js 4.10.38 | All found | 5 of 5 | 8 of 8 |
| pdftotext (Xpdf) 4.00 | All found | 5 of 5 | 8 of 8 |
| pypdf 6.13.0 | All found | 5 of 5 | 8 of 8 |
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a food handler card to work as a line cook?
It depends on where you work. ServSafe notes that food handler requirements vary by state and change over time, so check with your local health department and list the card you hold with its year. The ServSafe Food Handler course, run by the National Restaurant Association, has no prerequisite and is open to anyone learning basic safe food handling.
How do I write a line cook resume with no restaurant experience?
Start by applying for prep or dish roles, and list cooking you have done for others: a school culinary program, catering for events, a camp kitchen, a family business. Make it clear you can work nights and weekends.
Do I need culinary school to get line cook jobs?
Not for most kitchens; many cooks learn on the job. If you did a culinary program, list it, but give the stations and kitchens more space.
How do I show speed on a cook resume?
Covers per night and ticket times are the clearest evidence. Without numbers, describe the busiest service you handle alone and the stations you cover in it.
What do chefs check first on a line cook resume?
Which stations you can run, the volume you have cooked for, and whether you stayed at kitchens long enough to learn them. A clean, short page helps too.
Will applicant tracking systems read this Meridian PDF?
The sample PDF read back with its contact details, all 5 section headings and all 8 bullets intact in three open-source text extractors (pdf.js, pdftotext and pypdf). Commercial systems such as Workday, Greenhouse or Taleo were not tested, and each employer configures its own.
Guides and templates for this resume
Sources, checked 29 October 2026
We opened every page below on that date. Pay, rules and requirements change, so check the source before you rely on a detail.
- ServSafe (National Restaurant Association): ServSafe Food Handler (food handler course and assessment with no official prerequisite, for anyone seeking basic safe food handling knowledge; notes changing regulatory requirements by state)
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