Top English Food Service Vocabulary Words

Every worker in the foodservice industry is expected to have a base-level understanding of food service vocabulary to help them identify tools, responsibilities, rights, benefits, and elements of their jobs. Fortunately, the United States Department of Labor lays out 170 of these vocabulary  terms in the Occupational Handbook. Terms included in this list are important for service industry workers because they help clarify a common understanding of each element necessary to delivering excellent food service and also lets employees know the legal means in which to discuss issues with particular elements of the workplace or management staff.   The full list of essential vocabulary words for food service workers is as follows: Addition Customers Maintain Retail Alcoholic Demand Manage Room Area Department Manager Run Assist Diners Marketing Safety Assistant Dining Meals Salads Attendants Dishes Meat Sales Baggers Dishwashers Menu Sandwiches Bakers Drinking Merchandise Schedules Bars Eating Move Section Bartenders Employees Moving Select Benefits Entry Nonfood Selection Beverage Equipment Nonsupervisory Selections Beverages Establishment Numerous Sell Butchers Establishments Offer Selling Cafeteria Fill Office Serve Cafeterias Fillers Operation Service Cash Fish Order Services Cashiers Floor Orders Serving Chains Food Oversee Shifts Change Foods Package Shop Checkout Fresh Patrons Smaller Chef Groceries Perform Snack Chefs Grocery Performance Specialize Clean Group Place Specialty Cleaning Growth Poultry Staff Clerks Handling Premises Stock Coffee Health Preparation Store Company Hospitality Prepare Stores Compared Hostesses Prepared Supermarket Computer Hosts Preparing Supermarkets Consumer Hourly Prices Supervisors Consumption Hours Processing Supplies Contact Increase Produce Systems Convenience Ingredients Product Tables Cook Inventory Products Tasks Cooking Items Proportion Tips Cooks Kitchen Provide Trade Counter Kitchens Purchase Train Counters Level Recipes Training Courtesy Line Register Variety Culinary Local Replacement Waiters Customer Longer Required Waitresses Restaurant Workers The Importance of Knowing Proper Vocabulary Working in the food service industry often offers young workers their first exposure to the idea of corporate speak and jargon used in the workplace to simply and make communication uniform across the full market, from larger companies like McDonalds to locally owned diners in rural America. For this reason, its important that employees understand the basic difference between common phrases in the industry as well as how to properly refer to stages of preparation, tools for handling food, economic concerns of the business, and day to day operational tasks like training and hours. What may be more important to note is that when it comes to legality and contracts, these terms have very strict definitions according to the government, so if, for instance, a contract says that Training is unpaid, and a person winds up training for three weeks, theyre essentially providing free labor, but have agreed to such in their contract — knowing these types of words, especially in a legal context, can help protect new employees. Jargon and Colloquialisms That said, another key element to a successful career (even if short-lived) in the food service industry hinges upon teambuilding and understanding the language of the workplace, even in a less professional and technical way.   Because food service relies on a team of individuals, from the line cook to the waiter, the hostess to the busboy, employees of dining and food service establishments often form familial bonds with one another and develop their own jargon and colloquialisms to communicate with one another secretly, even in front of patrons of the establishment. Understanding the legal, technical, and colloquial vocabularies of food service are essential to being successful in the field because most of this industry relies entirely upon interaction not only with the customers but with coworkers as well.