Kitchen Manager Jobs in Arlington, TX
Kitchen managers in Arlington run back-of-house teams whose volume rises and falls with Rangers home stands, Cowboys Sundays and convention weeks in the Entertainment District. Posted salaries on employer sites run from about $70,000 to $85,000 and up for chef managers and executive chefs. Current openings come first, then who is hiring.
Current kitchen manager Openings in Arlington, TX
Listings marked External are sponsored openings provided by the Jobs2Careers network.
Kitchen Manager Work in Arlington
Most of Arlington's kitchen leadership jobs sit inside a small patch of the Entertainment District along Nolan Ryan Expressway and Collins Street. Loews Arlington Hotel and Live! by Loews run restaurants such as Farena, Cut & Bourbon and The Veranda plus banquet kitchens, the Texas Rangers run game-day kitchens at Globe Life Field, and Six Flags Over Texas runs food stands from spring through fall. Each of those operations orders and schedules against an event calendar rather than a steady weekly pattern, and that forecasting skill is what Arlington employers pay for.
Away from the stadiums, buffet kitchens along I-20 in south Arlington and school and contract dining accounts need managers who hold food cost, labor and inspections steady all year, with more predictable hours.
Top Arlington Employers Hiring Kitchen Managers
These employers have posted kitchen leadership roles in Arlington on their own careers sites:
- Loews Arlington Hotel and Live! by Loews - the two Entertainment District hotels have posted pastry sous chef, banquet sous chef, garde manger sous chef and banquet chef roles.
- KitchFix - the culinary company lists an Executive Chef with the Texas Rangers in Arlington, running game-day prep, menus, ordering and seasonal kitchen staff.
- Flik Independent School Dining - the Compass Group school dining brand is hiring a chef manager in south Arlington with a posted salary of $70,000 to $80,000.
- Golden Corral - the buffet restaurant on East Interstate 20 in south Arlington has posted a restaurant kitchen manager opening.
- Six Flags Over Texas - the theme park lists a food and beverage culinary supervisor who runs kitchen staff, food safety and inventory, a first rung toward kitchen management.
Kitchen Manager Salaries in Arlington
- Entry level: about $45,000 to $55,000 per year for assistant kitchen managers and first salaried supervisors.
- Experienced: roughly $55,000 to $75,000 per year for kitchen managers, sous chefs and chef managers.
- Senior: about $75,000 to $95,000 or more for executive chefs and multi-outlet culinary leaders.
These are estimates. They draw on pay posted by Arlington employers, including a chef manager role at $70,000 to $80,000 and a Rangers executive chef role starting at $85,000 plus bonus, and on the federal median of $69,390 a year for food service managers in May 2025. Hourly culinary supervisor roles start much lower, near $16 an hour at Six Flags. Pay rises with the number of outlets you run, banquet experience and food and labor cost results.
How to Become a Kitchen Manager in Arlington
There is no state license for kitchen managers, but the City of Arlington requires every food establishment to have at least one Certified Food Manager and lists the certificate as valid for five years. In practice the kitchen manager is usually that person, so plan to pass an accredited food manager exam before you apply. Every food employee also needs an accredited food handler course within 30 days of hire under Texas Food Establishment Rules section 228.31.
The local school route is Tarrant County College's Culinary Arts program at the Southeast Campus, 2100 Southeast Parkway in Arlington, which offers an Associate of Applied Science plus Culinary Arts I and Baking and Pastry Level 1 certificates. Most Arlington kitchen managers still get the job by working up from the line to lead cook and sous chef.
What the Job Involves
You own the back of house: hiring and scheduling cooks, ordering and receiving product, counting inventory, controlling food and labor cost, running line checks and temperature logs, and getting through health inspections cleanly. You also cook and train new staff. In an event kitchen you forecast covers from a calendar, and a wrong guess either buries the line or wastes product.
Skills Employers Look For
- Certified Food Manager credential, or the ability to earn it quickly
- Food cost and labor cost control with numbers you can explain
- Scheduling and ordering against an event calendar
- Hiring, training and keeping line and prep cooks
- Food safety, sanitation and inspection readiness
- Banquet, buffet or high-volume production experience
- Bilingual Spanish and English, useful with many back-of-house teams
Career Path and Advancement
The usual Arlington ladder runs from dishwasher or prep cook to line cook, lead cook, sous chef and kitchen manager. From there, the hotel kitchens at Loews offer banquet chef and executive chef rungs, contract dining companies such as Compass Group and KitchFix offer chef manager and executive chef roles across accounts, and restaurant chains promote kitchen managers toward general manager and multi-unit roles.
Related Careers in Arlington
Kitchen managers in Arlington are promoted out of these roles and hire into them:
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you need a certification to be a kitchen manager in Arlington, TX?
There is no state license, but the City of Arlington requires every food establishment to have at least one Certified Food Manager, and in most kitchens that is the kitchen manager. The certificate is valid for five years. A food handler card alone does not meet this requirement.
How much do kitchen managers make in Arlington, TX?
Most kitchen manager and sous chef roles fall between about $55,000 and $75,000 a year. Arlington postings on employer sites include a chef manager job at $70,000 to $80,000 and a Rangers executive chef job starting at $85,000 plus bonus. These are estimates and vary with the size of the operation.
How long does it take to become a kitchen manager in Arlington?
Most people spend several years on the line before they are trusted with a kitchen. A Tarrant County College culinary credential from the Southeast Campus and a Certified Food Manager certificate can shorten that climb.
Where are most kitchen manager jobs in Arlington?
The biggest cluster is the Entertainment District, where the Loews hotels, Globe Life Field and Six Flags Over Texas all run large kitchens. Other openings come from restaurants along I-20 in south Arlington and from school, hospital and contract dining accounts across the city.
What hours do Arlington kitchen managers work?
Expect long weeks that include nights, weekends and holidays, especially during baseball season, football season and convention weeks. School and contract dining roles usually follow a weekday schedule.
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