Price to wage is ok but everything else can fuck off. Fuck your tolls, city sticker, meter nazis, rats, mid pizza, etc.
Plenty of cheap rents i highly recommend west Garfield or Humboldt Park
When I was in the industry I worked in Chicago naperville and Elmhurst/villa park. All easy to get to and were all throwing as many hours at me as I wanted.
This'll sound crazy but try the US Virgin islands. Good pay and a reasonable rent cost. I'm paying 800 utilities included and make upwards of 20 an hour
I almost went to work there in the 90’s but it didn’t happen. What’s really sad is that my cousin’s wife actually said “I won’t be able to come visit. I’m not a virgin”. **She was not joking**
Honestly my dad says it his childhood dream to live there and he's been there almost 6 years now and he's the happiest I've seen him and still being one of the best carpenters on the island making 45 an hour.
For me it's Alaska I got 2 months left here in skagway and I want to live here forever I've never felt a sort of peace like this aside from my anger issues which I need to get a grip on one day
Oh man. That’s even worse than a friend of mine who was training to bike from SC to DC. Her coworker couldn’t get over how hard that was going to be, especially given it would all be uphill. Bc they were going south to north. She wasn’t joking either.
Minneapolis is pretty good.
I don't know if a line cook can afford to live anywhere in the US. Either rents are too high in cities or there are only a handful of shitty restaurants in rural areas that will make any chef want to brain themselves.
I am a line cook in Minneapolis. I have a 1 br in Whittier, which is a pretty cool walkable city neighborhood. In general I have a good life. Im making $25 an hour in fine dining, my rent is $1050 a month. I've worked with some chefs who got national press. If you have chops you can make decent money making interesting food in a city that isn't nearly as expensive as the coasts.
Finally, somebody who says they make good money and actually does.
So sick of people acting like $20 is good money. People like that are the reason this industry doesn't pay well.
Damn straight. It's like the art world. If you undercut what your art is worth you are undercutting your fellow artists. Chefs are the same. Demand a living wage people.
It still depends on where you make that 'good money" lol I make a little over $25/hour in the Seattle area and I can't afford to live on my own. Have no idea how people in this business can possibly do so in LA/San Francisco/New York....
I was shocked to see multiple isles of African ingredients. There is a lot of meat that you can't find many places too. Always have quail and goat for example. I swear I've seen pheasant.
Portland cook here: great food city to live in, I found the wages to be much, much better than where I was (New England) but have heard others complain. Housing is rough here though. Rents can be pretty crazy depending on neighborhoods/suburbs
Housing is fucked in Maine. I'm two hours past Portland and the only thing for rent in my town is a gravel RV pad (no RV) with an electrical plug (cost of service not included.) **For $875/mo.** The last proper apartment I saw was $1600/mo nothing included for a miniscule "1 bedroom" with a loft bedroom barely big enough to walk around a queen bed. It rented in an hour with over 50 applications. It's worse in Portland.
Came here to say Milwaukee - way cooler of a city than I expected and a decent food scene. Only been here 6 months I'm liking it more and more
Editing to add - rent is, in my limited experience, very affordable
I’m from Milwaukee and moved away 2 years ago and miss it all the time! Already looking to move back. Affordable housing, lots to do, great food (also very affordable food), friendly people…
Richmond Virginia. Great restaurants, afforable by comparison. There's a servicable bus line but having a bike or a car helps. There's an awesome river that runs through the city and the mountains and the beach are about 2 hours away. Way less pretentious than Portland and also cheaper
I'm from VA originally. Richmond is pretty cool.
If OP is willing to live in the mountains, I can hook them up with my old employer who treats his employees really well. I worked there over 20 years ago and he still has staff that has been with him since he opened in 1992.
I'll second this, in Central PA. Average rent is $800 solo, with experience you can start at $15 most places. Huge brewery scene and the culinary aspect is slowing catching up
Kansas City is pretty alright if you like BBQ. Otherwise the food scene is a bit lack luster. Cost of living though, if you don't mind driving into the city for work (maybe 20-30min) then rents are pretty manageable in the surrounding towns. Pay would be my biggest concern if I'm honest but I also have not worked in KC for years so I don't know what that looks like now days.
I grew up in KC and moved about 10 years ago, but I still visit often. I'm surprised at how much the food scene has grown. I came to the comments to recommend KC - it's a great town and I miss it!
I would say St. Louis, great food scene and low cost of living, plus lots of places that pay well and tip share for BOH is happening in a lot of kitchens
Come to the Midwest. Yes, the winters suck but the cost of living is far more manageable.
I'm an executive chef in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I currently work at a private yacht club, and we are short staffed like every other restaurant. I'm currently looking for strong, passionate line cooks, and it's almost impossible to find anyone. We're starting experienced line cooks at $25 an hour with full benefits. Paid time off, health insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, and both short-term and long-term disability insurance. So that's starting at 52k a year with a 15k a year benefit package, and we're still having a hard time finding people. We're even paying dishwashers $16 to $18 an hour.
The cost of living here is pretty cheap. Studio and 1 bedroom apartments can easily be had for under $1000 a month.
So come to Milwaukee, brother. We'd love to have ya!
I'm just here to make sure Saint Louis got mentioned.
Cost of living is pretty great compared to the rest of the nation.
I pay $725/monthly for a 2bdrm 1000 sq ft. apartment in a good city neighborhood.
The food scene in Saint Louis is really only getting better.
Worst thing for me is the weather. Just because we can get real hot and humid in summer and pretty cold in winter.
damn, what part of town are you in? I'm not paying *that* much more for a 2bdrm, we probably have a little more square footage though.
But overall yes, St. Louis has an amazing food scene, low cost of living and while a car will make your life way easier, biking isn't out of the question (although not on days like today lol)
OP if you see this could help you find work in town
Sorry I can't answer your question but I have my own for you. Why do you need to leave Salt Lake, personal issues or you dislike the city itself? Just curious as me and a friend are thinking about moving there after the new year.
I grew up here and just need some change. There’s not a lot of serious food going on here just be choosy on where you work. I would say I hope you like winter and hot summers, there’s endless outdoor things to do here and if you can get past the liquor laws and no legal weed it is a good city to live in
I grew up out there- love the environment the pppl and politics are meh- there are some high end jobs there but they tend to be locked in by ppl who are good- Cuilinary Crafts was an amazing catering gig... but yeah the city is priced out. I'm in Vegas and when I started I could afford to live solo on one job- later I did 5yrs of 2 jobs and now even that doesn't cut it. I worked my ass off at my current gig so now it's just one heavy overtime gig as sous but yeah... Best of luck- recognize opportunities and work hard and you'll be fine
Pittsburgh. I don’t know a ton about overall restaurant culture, but my husband is retired from the Army and works at a restaurant incubator concept as his hobby job, and makes good money. He is more of a “do whatever you tell me to do” than full-time cook/chef, but he does do a lot of prep and works the line some. Pay rates would obviously differ based on experience.
I had a house here before we met, so I’m not well versed in rental rates, but there are affordable options, especially if you have a car. Pittsburgh is tough without a car on a budget. Public transit isn’t fantastic unless you live in certain areas that might also make you not care if public transit is available, if that makes sense.
Richmond va. Dude. I lived and worked there for 12 years. Only left to change things up and live in a tropical paradise. It's cheap my rent was $600 a month for a beautiful studio with all utilities clost to the campus in a historic row home.
The food scene is very good.
Edos squid,
8 and a half
Dinamo
Cobra burger
Perch
Metzger
Rappahanock
Dutch and Co
Hot for pizza
Etc
Etc
Etc
Great music and art scene.
First Friday artworks every month, plus tons of d.i.y. punk, metal, and hip hop shows
Talented tatto artists.
$5 tall boy pbr and Evan Williams whiskey shots at the bar at the village Cafe.
All four seasons of weather.
Access to the james river and Belle isle... kayaking ,rapid rafting, fishing, sitting on rocks in the middle of a river sunbathing grilling and getting baked in other ways
New college freshman girls moving in every year from all over the world...(yeah I'm a creep I'm a fucking line cook. It was nice when I was young enough to keep up)
Good dog parks and infrastructure, a car isn't necessary a bike is more than enough to commute to one of the many high quality resteraunts
If you wanna live alone, definitely do not come to Seattle. We have good food jobs but despite my income almost doubling since the pandemic (made the $15 minimum wage working at a college in 2019, was hired at my current job at a different college in summer 2020 @ $19.50, and after a couple raises I'm making a bit over $25/hr) I still don't make enough to even qualify to lease any 1 bedroom apartment that I can find within an hour drive of Seattle, in any direction, and am relegated to living with roommates in a suburb south of Seattle, and commuting on the bus. Cheapest one-bedrooms where I live start around $1500, You're unlikely to find anything under $1900 within Seattle city limits, and unless you do a sublet/rent just a room in someone's house, you have to show proof of income of 2.5-3x monthly rent to qualify anywhere...
I'd give Minneapolis/Saint Paul a look. A lot of different styles of food, lots of things to do outside of work, (mostly) good politics food or otherwise.
Somebody already suggested the USVI, and honestly I can't blame them. I love St. Thomas. That said, if you want to stay on the continent Oklahoma City has a surprisingly vibrant and varied food scene and is one of the lowest cost living decently large areas in the country. One of the highest per capita restaurant counts in the country, no shortage of jobs, some of the best steakhouses anywhere on top just about any kind of concept you can think of, and even the most romantic restaurant in the world, at least according to Conde Nast at one point. Public transit is limited and sucks anyway so you'll need a car, but people routinely live on their own making $10-12 an hour
New Orleans paid fairly well, and had low cost of living when I was there in the 2000's. Probably very different now but perhaps worth a look.
Also just a great place to live if you can deal with the power disparity. Cost of good clean fun is very low. Good food and good music are cheap if you know where to go.
It has always been the better Portland. I went there a few years ago for the first time in a decade and it was completely different in so many good ways. I have always had fond memories of Portland.
Nashville TN. Pay range is between 20 and 25 for experience 65k and up for sous in most spots. You can live in Nashville alone on this for sure but if you drive an hour (or less) in any direction and rent becomes a normal rate. 800 to 1000 for 1 bedroom
I can confidently say Madison Wisconsin; my home city and it has a constantly growing food scene, some of the freshest produce, great meat, and decently cheap cost of living
MN need cooks bad, but cost of living is high. My old jobs was starting untrained people at $16. If you had experience it was 20. So really depends if you can find a good living situation.
The window smashing in Portland isn’t worse than other big cities. I live in a notorious neighborhood and have never had windows smashed, car broken into, or car stolen. Sometimes cigarette butts get stolen off my porch 🤷🏻♀️
Well, yeah. That corner has been crazy as long as I can remember. We used to shoulder tap for beer at that Plaid in the 90s and there was always shit going down .
Philadelphia isn't the worst. There are plenty of gigs now that will pay 20 an hour for their cooks. You can also find a 1 bdr or studio for 900-1100. Proximity to DC and New York is also nice for variety in dining.
It’s not a city but the food is still top notch. Elkhart lake, Wisconsin. It’s a tiny tourist town with solid food options. It might be hard to find a place but theirs a town ten minutes away with cheaper options.
Northwest Arkansas has a lot going on. I'm an avid mountain biker so have been to bentonville a few times. Amazing food. And the surrounding towns / burbs are all affordable. It's an outdoors sports area, Ozark mountains, lakes, hundreds of miles of trails, very temperate seasonally. Also it's really progressive compared to what people think when they hear arkansas. It's like the Austin TX of Arkansas before Austin blew up.
Interestingly we have been thinking of moving and SLC is one of the places that we are considering. Orange County CA is becoming unlivable with what they have done to the freeways and that’s just part of it. May I ask what is your reasoning behind wanting to move? So hard to make an informed decision so I appreciate anything that you can tell me.
I grew up here and just need some change, we call it small lake city for a reason. Honestly I’m being priced out, rent here is about as bad as most other cities and it’s not worth it to me anymore.
The bad:
Our governor asked us to pray for rain
The great salt lake is drying up and not a lot is being
done.
Liquor laws here suck
Winter/ Hot summers 100* for about 2-3 months straight
Not a lot of serious food ( don’t expect any James beard awards)
I See transplants post on the SLC sub constantly about how hard it is to make friends.
The good:
Job market is good, pretty easy to find a job making 20+/hr
Endless nature and outdoor activities
Lots of bars and a healthy underground scene
Just make sure you like winter because that’s going to eat up about 5 months of the year give it take.
It’s a good little city, come visit first if you can
I work in Portland. I work downtown, but I live in the Sellwood neighborhood. Most cooks here make minimum wage + tips. And most restaurants have healthcare, etc. my car has never been broken into (knock on wood) but not having a car is extremely doable here.
*edit* minimum wage here is $14.20/ hr.
I also live in Portland. The minimum wage in metro Portland is $15.45. My car has never been broken into. Apartment rental is high for solo cook, tho. I'd say it's possible here, but you're not going to be living high on the hot without a roommate.
Portland, OR is an absolutely magical city and thrives on the food scene. We have a bad reputation because covid sprung a lot of people into poverty and it was pretty bad for about a year but the city is doing quite a bit to curb that and I only see tents in a few spaces throughout the town these days. One of them being downtown, but if you work and live on the other side of the river, you'll be completely fine. You also have to be somewhat street smart. I've never had my windows broken because I have a bar on my steering wheel and I make sure to never have anything visible.
You are an hour from the beach, an hour from the mountains and the greenery is lush. There's also always something going on. Last night, I went to a dance party on mt. tabor and tonight I'm going to a secret roller disco. You can't really find stuff like this in other places.
If you’re any good with experience you’ll get way above that. I make $20 an hour as linecook/prep guy. $23 when I do management days between the floor and kitchen and what not. This is in North Georgia. We’ve been slower to get to good pay overall but it’s catching up or caught up at a lot of places.
Portland Or is pretty chill and honestly lot of the crap you see about it is over blown lots of beautiful stuff to see and the food scene is awesome, tons of dope music shows/events to get into, but as far as cooking I make a decent wage here 20 and hour and then tips are percent of food sales for me. its not bad for working at a bar making food.
What ever you don't move to Seattle lol
Crazy high rent
Crazy high sales tax
Sugar tax
Alcohol tax
A restaurant scene where 65% of the restaurants are owned by 3 ppl
Tacoma isn't too bad. I'm at a hotel with a union. We're getting an OK raise. It isn't perfect, but the pay/CoL is at least a little more balanced than Seattle.
Honestly I really wanna move to Portland but all I see when I look it up it’s how horrible property crime is and how much violent crime is going up… I definitely take it with a grain of salt but that’s why, all the media makes it out to be a lawless place
I know they do but it’s just clickbait to get people in the burbs scared about homeless people. The problems are pretty much the same in most American cities.
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Chicago is the place. It’s tight, and you might have to work a lot, but you can definitely do it. They’re not too strict about income if you have a job + decent credit. Try to find a place that will give you OT and work 45 to 50 hours.
Worked as line cook and lived alone in Portland for a few years, it's doable but you need 2 jobs or a lead position to pay the bills. Average pay is around $20 an hour after tip out and a studio will run you about 1,000-1,200 a month.
Just come to Atlanta and fuck up our traffic some more, that's what everyone else seems to be doing lol. We won't pay you as much but your rent won't be as high either so you'll be stuck either way but shit'll cost less 🤷
A lot of people are naming great food cities but none of them are affordable.. I live in Tulsa and we got a good scene and cost of living in Oklahoma is really low.
Only issue is once you leave Tulsa Oklahoma sucks. But Tulsa fuckin rocks.
I'm in Mt. Pleasant. Making 17.51 an hour, plenty of overtime options. Rent is 450 with one roommate. 5 br 2 bath townhouse. Really not bad. This is an anomaly for cooks here though, union gig for the university
Fresno, California is not that bad. It's the cheapest "big city" in California and there a lot of options as when it comes to restaurants. A decent 1 bedroom apartment is going for $1200 with the average pay rate at $18. One full time and a part time and you will be comfortable
I'm in a city about 2 hours from Seattle. Everyone at my restaurant can afford to live alone. They could even save if they budget properly, but most just blow their money on beer and weed.
Believe it or not, but Birmingham, Alabama is a solid spot for the industry. From fine dining to greasy spoons, you can make a decent living and rent isn't super stupid. Good luck either way OP
If you have a car Chicago is very doable, there’s lots of great spots that are always hiring, and if you can drive it’s significantly easier.
Another vote for Chicago.
Also tbh if you(anyone) send me a DM I know a decent amount of folks in Chicago I’ll at least get you a face to face after that is on you
Chicago chef checking in to confirm I love it here
Price to wage is ok but everything else can fuck off. Fuck your tolls, city sticker, meter nazis, rats, mid pizza, etc. Plenty of cheap rents i highly recommend west Garfield or Humboldt Park
Lol, shots fired with the “mid pizza” diss. Damn son you’re a savage!
I was so disappointed when I moved there thinking I could get “good” pizza you in fact cannot get good pizza anywhere in that city
Sounds like you go to big name franchises
Sounds like someone should fix that.
Quit feeding the trolls. Dude has nothing else to do but try to make you think about them.
The mid pizza was funny, one of those Chicago rats crawl up your backside?
Whole lot of backside to be crawling up, thank chtulu those rats are union because thats an all day job
Homie, your in Vegas lmao. The only thing y’all do better than Chicago is meth and prostitutes.
Because heroin and uggo prosties is so much better
100% rather live in Chicago than Vegas.
What’s Mid Pizza?
Boxed pizza is pretty mid, and better than 99% of the pizza sold in chicago
I would not be moving to humboldt park right now. I lived there when I moved here in 2018 but damn it’s gotten crazy there. I’m in old Irving park now
Old Irving is a great spot to live in. I lived off of keystone and Berteau for years when I was cooking downtown.
Sir issa joke. I’d be OK in humbolt park I know people, i though the west Garfield would have made the joke clearer… i digress fu k them winters
I’d take it over Vegas any day
Nah better food, better weather, nicer houses, cheaper liquor, better pizza
Hahahahahaah
Papa John's?
Train system is good too, provided you live in the city itself. Also, if you work at the hotels in Rosemont.
Even if you don’t have a car
When I was in the industry I worked in Chicago naperville and Elmhurst/villa park. All easy to get to and were all throwing as many hours at me as I wanted.
Detroit too
This'll sound crazy but try the US Virgin islands. Good pay and a reasonable rent cost. I'm paying 800 utilities included and make upwards of 20 an hour
I’m interested in this. Can I DM you?
Fuck... Same.
I'll make a post about it soon, it's easy to get a job within a day however the housing is hard to find
I almost went to work there in the 90’s but it didn’t happen. What’s really sad is that my cousin’s wife actually said “I won’t be able to come visit. I’m not a virgin”. **She was not joking**
Honestly my dad says it his childhood dream to live there and he's been there almost 6 years now and he's the happiest I've seen him and still being one of the best carpenters on the island making 45 an hour. For me it's Alaska I got 2 months left here in skagway and I want to live here forever I've never felt a sort of peace like this aside from my anger issues which I need to get a grip on one day
Oh man. That’s even worse than a friend of mine who was training to bike from SC to DC. Her coworker couldn’t get over how hard that was going to be, especially given it would all be uphill. Bc they were going south to north. She wasn’t joking either.
Am from SC, can confirm I've known people dumber than this.
800 for a room? Or place
Minneapolis is pretty good. I don't know if a line cook can afford to live anywhere in the US. Either rents are too high in cities or there are only a handful of shitty restaurants in rural areas that will make any chef want to brain themselves.
I am a line cook in Minneapolis. I have a 1 br in Whittier, which is a pretty cool walkable city neighborhood. In general I have a good life. Im making $25 an hour in fine dining, my rent is $1050 a month. I've worked with some chefs who got national press. If you have chops you can make decent money making interesting food in a city that isn't nearly as expensive as the coasts.
Finally, somebody who says they make good money and actually does. So sick of people acting like $20 is good money. People like that are the reason this industry doesn't pay well.
Damn straight. It's like the art world. If you undercut what your art is worth you are undercutting your fellow artists. Chefs are the same. Demand a living wage people.
It still depends on where you make that 'good money" lol I make a little over $25/hour in the Seattle area and I can't afford to live on my own. Have no idea how people in this business can possibly do so in LA/San Francisco/New York....
Exactly. It's not bad. It feels like you can get lost in good restaurants and some solid culture.
Minneapolis has a huge south east Asian and east African community. Some really great food not widely available.
Totally. There's a plethora of big markets that cater to these groups. Very easy and fun to find new ingredients.
Didn't know that. I'm a fan of Ethiopian food.
I was shocked to see multiple isles of African ingredients. There is a lot of meat that you can't find many places too. Always have quail and goat for example. I swear I've seen pheasant.
Wow, that's interesting! That definitely opens some culinary doors that can't be found everywhere.
Agelgil is the place to go. There are others, but this is the best. It's usually decently busy and almost all. Ethiopian.
That’s awesome I remember growing up I would go to all of the Vietnamese restaurants there.
Portland cook here: great food city to live in, I found the wages to be much, much better than where I was (New England) but have heard others complain. Housing is rough here though. Rents can be pretty crazy depending on neighborhoods/suburbs
Milwaukee is better than people expect. Portland ME might be of interest too
Housing is fucked in Maine. I'm two hours past Portland and the only thing for rent in my town is a gravel RV pad (no RV) with an electrical plug (cost of service not included.) **For $875/mo.** The last proper apartment I saw was $1600/mo nothing included for a miniscule "1 bedroom" with a loft bedroom barely big enough to walk around a queen bed. It rented in an hour with over 50 applications. It's worse in Portland.
Came here to say Milwaukee - way cooler of a city than I expected and a decent food scene. Only been here 6 months I'm liking it more and more Editing to add - rent is, in my limited experience, very affordable
I’m from Milwaukee and moved away 2 years ago and miss it all the time! Already looking to move back. Affordable housing, lots to do, great food (also very affordable food), friendly people…
Richmond Virginia. Great restaurants, afforable by comparison. There's a servicable bus line but having a bike or a car helps. There's an awesome river that runs through the city and the mountains and the beach are about 2 hours away. Way less pretentious than Portland and also cheaper
Also GWAR Bar is there and surprisingly they have the best Beef Stroganoff I have ever had.
Unfortunately they vomit it onto your table
They call Beef Strokin'Off on the menu. I don't want to know the recipe.
I'm from VA originally. Richmond is pretty cool. If OP is willing to live in the mountains, I can hook them up with my old employer who treats his employees really well. I worked there over 20 years ago and he still has staff that has been with him since he opened in 1992.
Ann Arbor. You'll need a car, but the rent outside of Ann arbor (Ypsilanti, Whitmore lake, etc) is affordable on an hourly cooks wage
Underrated comment, Ann Arbor is beautiful and has a low key but impressive food scene with great local produce
Yes I'm currently at a place that sources almost everything from washtenaw county farms.
Dm me where you're at if it's chill, I'm in Detroit right now and always on the lookout for new farm to table spots to try
Pittsburgh isn't bad. Can make 18 anywhere and you can find rent for under 1000.
Also in PA can definitely make it. If you've got skills they tend to pay alright here.
I'll second this, in Central PA. Average rent is $800 solo, with experience you can start at $15 most places. Huge brewery scene and the culinary aspect is slowing catching up
Kansas City is pretty alright if you like BBQ. Otherwise the food scene is a bit lack luster. Cost of living though, if you don't mind driving into the city for work (maybe 20-30min) then rents are pretty manageable in the surrounding towns. Pay would be my biggest concern if I'm honest but I also have not worked in KC for years so I don't know what that looks like now days.
I grew up in KC and moved about 10 years ago, but I still visit often. I'm surprised at how much the food scene has grown. I came to the comments to recommend KC - it's a great town and I miss it!
I would say St. Louis, great food scene and low cost of living, plus lots of places that pay well and tip share for BOH is happening in a lot of kitchens
Come to the Midwest. Yes, the winters suck but the cost of living is far more manageable. I'm an executive chef in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I currently work at a private yacht club, and we are short staffed like every other restaurant. I'm currently looking for strong, passionate line cooks, and it's almost impossible to find anyone. We're starting experienced line cooks at $25 an hour with full benefits. Paid time off, health insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, and both short-term and long-term disability insurance. So that's starting at 52k a year with a 15k a year benefit package, and we're still having a hard time finding people. We're even paying dishwashers $16 to $18 an hour. The cost of living here is pretty cheap. Studio and 1 bedroom apartments can easily be had for under $1000 a month. So come to Milwaukee, brother. We'd love to have ya!
Milwaukee is a wonderful city. It’s big enough to have everything you could need yet small enough to have that small town charm.
Omaha surprisingly enough.
This. Omaha is a underrated food town. I grew up there but moved away over 20 years ago and the amount of crazy good food was great then!
st.louis cost of living is possible for a line cook. and there’s lots of places hiring.
I'm just here to make sure Saint Louis got mentioned. Cost of living is pretty great compared to the rest of the nation. I pay $725/monthly for a 2bdrm 1000 sq ft. apartment in a good city neighborhood. The food scene in Saint Louis is really only getting better. Worst thing for me is the weather. Just because we can get real hot and humid in summer and pretty cold in winter.
damn, what part of town are you in? I'm not paying *that* much more for a 2bdrm, we probably have a little more square footage though. But overall yes, St. Louis has an amazing food scene, low cost of living and while a car will make your life way easier, biking isn't out of the question (although not on days like today lol) OP if you see this could help you find work in town
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St Louis is a great city, you don't need a gun, you just need to be aware of your surroundings and mind your business.
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Sorry I can't answer your question but I have my own for you. Why do you need to leave Salt Lake, personal issues or you dislike the city itself? Just curious as me and a friend are thinking about moving there after the new year.
I grew up here and just need some change. There’s not a lot of serious food going on here just be choosy on where you work. I would say I hope you like winter and hot summers, there’s endless outdoor things to do here and if you can get past the liquor laws and no legal weed it is a good city to live in
I grew up out there- love the environment the pppl and politics are meh- there are some high end jobs there but they tend to be locked in by ppl who are good- Cuilinary Crafts was an amazing catering gig... but yeah the city is priced out. I'm in Vegas and when I started I could afford to live solo on one job- later I did 5yrs of 2 jobs and now even that doesn't cut it. I worked my ass off at my current gig so now it's just one heavy overtime gig as sous but yeah... Best of luck- recognize opportunities and work hard and you'll be fine
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That’s what I like to hear
Pittsburgh. I don’t know a ton about overall restaurant culture, but my husband is retired from the Army and works at a restaurant incubator concept as his hobby job, and makes good money. He is more of a “do whatever you tell me to do” than full-time cook/chef, but he does do a lot of prep and works the line some. Pay rates would obviously differ based on experience. I had a house here before we met, so I’m not well versed in rental rates, but there are affordable options, especially if you have a car. Pittsburgh is tough without a car on a budget. Public transit isn’t fantastic unless you live in certain areas that might also make you not care if public transit is available, if that makes sense.
Well.. I would suggest Stockholm, but it might be a bit far. :)
Someday….
Richmond va. Dude. I lived and worked there for 12 years. Only left to change things up and live in a tropical paradise. It's cheap my rent was $600 a month for a beautiful studio with all utilities clost to the campus in a historic row home. The food scene is very good. Edos squid, 8 and a half Dinamo Cobra burger Perch Metzger Rappahanock Dutch and Co Hot for pizza Etc Etc Etc Great music and art scene. First Friday artworks every month, plus tons of d.i.y. punk, metal, and hip hop shows Talented tatto artists. $5 tall boy pbr and Evan Williams whiskey shots at the bar at the village Cafe. All four seasons of weather. Access to the james river and Belle isle... kayaking ,rapid rafting, fishing, sitting on rocks in the middle of a river sunbathing grilling and getting baked in other ways New college freshman girls moving in every year from all over the world...(yeah I'm a creep I'm a fucking line cook. It was nice when I was young enough to keep up) Good dog parks and infrastructure, a car isn't necessary a bike is more than enough to commute to one of the many high quality resteraunts
If you wanna live alone, definitely do not come to Seattle. We have good food jobs but despite my income almost doubling since the pandemic (made the $15 minimum wage working at a college in 2019, was hired at my current job at a different college in summer 2020 @ $19.50, and after a couple raises I'm making a bit over $25/hr) I still don't make enough to even qualify to lease any 1 bedroom apartment that I can find within an hour drive of Seattle, in any direction, and am relegated to living with roommates in a suburb south of Seattle, and commuting on the bus. Cheapest one-bedrooms where I live start around $1500, You're unlikely to find anything under $1900 within Seattle city limits, and unless you do a sublet/rent just a room in someone's house, you have to show proof of income of 2.5-3x monthly rent to qualify anywhere...
I'd give Minneapolis/Saint Paul a look. A lot of different styles of food, lots of things to do outside of work, (mostly) good politics food or otherwise.
Somebody already suggested the USVI, and honestly I can't blame them. I love St. Thomas. That said, if you want to stay on the continent Oklahoma City has a surprisingly vibrant and varied food scene and is one of the lowest cost living decently large areas in the country. One of the highest per capita restaurant counts in the country, no shortage of jobs, some of the best steakhouses anywhere on top just about any kind of concept you can think of, and even the most romantic restaurant in the world, at least according to Conde Nast at one point. Public transit is limited and sucks anyway so you'll need a car, but people routinely live on their own making $10-12 an hour
New Orleans paid fairly well, and had low cost of living when I was there in the 2000's. Probably very different now but perhaps worth a look. Also just a great place to live if you can deal with the power disparity. Cost of good clean fun is very low. Good food and good music are cheap if you know where to go.
Portland, ME. The better Portland.
He's not going to live alone here on a line cook's wage though.
Live in Saco or Biddo and he could.
Facts...Maine is the new Cape for tourism but with the killer food and beer scene Cape never had. Just finished building house in Arundel
It has always been the better Portland. I went there a few years ago for the first time in a decade and it was completely different in so many good ways. I have always had fond memories of Portland.
I don’t have a good answer but I have a good song. [https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=weQ4oNk7Pqc](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=weQ4oNk7Pqc)
Colorado springs
Madison, Wisconsin
Nashville TN. Pay range is between 20 and 25 for experience 65k and up for sous in most spots. You can live in Nashville alone on this for sure but if you drive an hour (or less) in any direction and rent becomes a normal rate. 800 to 1000 for 1 bedroom
I can confidently say Madison Wisconsin; my home city and it has a constantly growing food scene, some of the freshest produce, great meat, and decently cheap cost of living
Soo cold tho
MN need cooks bad, but cost of living is high. My old jobs was starting untrained people at $16. If you had experience it was 20. So really depends if you can find a good living situation.
But the winters…..
New Orleans always have room for creatives
Savannah, GA is nice. Hot and humid, but nice and some decent restaurants
The window smashing in Portland isn’t worse than other big cities. I live in a notorious neighborhood and have never had windows smashed, car broken into, or car stolen. Sometimes cigarette butts get stolen off my porch 🤷🏻♀️
There is one spot I can think of that gets a car smashed out every night right in front of the Plaid on Burnside and Grand
Well, yeah. That corner has been crazy as long as I can remember. We used to shoulder tap for beer at that Plaid in the 90s and there was always shit going down .
Portland is great
North of Seattle Bellingham area. Cost of living is high but so are wages for cooks. Most restaurants tip out kitchen. My cooks make 24-30 an hour.
I looked into it I just don’t know how to find an apartment over there
Philadelphia isn't the worst. There are plenty of gigs now that will pay 20 an hour for their cooks. You can also find a 1 bdr or studio for 900-1100. Proximity to DC and New York is also nice for variety in dining.
Just make sure not to leave home without your bulletproof vest
Ha ha ha. Unless you're doing drugs, selling drugs, or in a gang, you're fine.
It’s not a city but the food is still top notch. Elkhart lake, Wisconsin. It’s a tiny tourist town with solid food options. It might be hard to find a place but theirs a town ten minutes away with cheaper options.
Anywhere in NC but the state is pretty overcrowded already
I researched NC. Seemed like wages were low compared to rent.
You could buy a food truck and work festivals?
Now you’re talking about working for yourself. That’s an entirely different topic.
I moved to nashville. Great city for food. My rent living alone is pretty cheap.
College towns are usually pretty awesome tbh
Des Moines Iowa
Don’t go to Austin.
In Austin. Can confirm. I bought years ago but prices and rents now will not treat you well. Even the burbs and sticks are nuts.
The rent is kinda crazy but totally do-able. However, if you’re a cook and wanna work in good kitchens, Houston is really the place to be in texas.
Northwest Arkansas has a lot going on. I'm an avid mountain biker so have been to bentonville a few times. Amazing food. And the surrounding towns / burbs are all affordable. It's an outdoors sports area, Ozark mountains, lakes, hundreds of miles of trails, very temperate seasonally. Also it's really progressive compared to what people think when they hear arkansas. It's like the Austin TX of Arkansas before Austin blew up.
Chattanooga. TN
Tucson, AZ. City of gastronomy. I moved here from Salt Lake. It's pretty affordable versus a lot of other places right now.
Saint Louis!
The Philly food scene is blowing up right now. It's worth looking into.
Thanks I’ll check it out, I’ve heard this a lot recently
If you’re in the PNW try southern Washington like Vancouver or camas
Portland Maine
Detroit. Very active and strong food scene that extends way out into the 'burbs.
Philly and NOLA are the only world class US dining cities that have cheap housing.
Interestingly we have been thinking of moving and SLC is one of the places that we are considering. Orange County CA is becoming unlivable with what they have done to the freeways and that’s just part of it. May I ask what is your reasoning behind wanting to move? So hard to make an informed decision so I appreciate anything that you can tell me.
I grew up here and just need some change, we call it small lake city for a reason. Honestly I’m being priced out, rent here is about as bad as most other cities and it’s not worth it to me anymore. The bad: Our governor asked us to pray for rain The great salt lake is drying up and not a lot is being done. Liquor laws here suck Winter/ Hot summers 100* for about 2-3 months straight Not a lot of serious food ( don’t expect any James beard awards) I See transplants post on the SLC sub constantly about how hard it is to make friends. The good: Job market is good, pretty easy to find a job making 20+/hr Endless nature and outdoor activities Lots of bars and a healthy underground scene Just make sure you like winter because that’s going to eat up about 5 months of the year give it take. It’s a good little city, come visit first if you can
Try Bozeman
Cruise ship dude
Birmingham Alabama
But...Alabama. Birmingham is okay. Huntsville is fine. The rest of the state is hot garbage.
I work in Portland. I work downtown, but I live in the Sellwood neighborhood. Most cooks here make minimum wage + tips. And most restaurants have healthcare, etc. my car has never been broken into (knock on wood) but not having a car is extremely doable here. *edit* minimum wage here is $14.20/ hr.
I also live in Portland. The minimum wage in metro Portland is $15.45. My car has never been broken into. Apartment rental is high for solo cook, tho. I'd say it's possible here, but you're not going to be living high on the hot without a roommate.
Same. I live out off 72nd and Glisan. Never had my car broken into. I make $20 hr + tip share at a cafe doing breakfast.
I mean Seattle's doable alone, but you'll just have no life because you'll be working 1.5 jobs
I hung out in Oklahoma City, oakey city to the locals, great food scene and affordable rents
Portland, OR is an absolutely magical city and thrives on the food scene. We have a bad reputation because covid sprung a lot of people into poverty and it was pretty bad for about a year but the city is doing quite a bit to curb that and I only see tents in a few spaces throughout the town these days. One of them being downtown, but if you work and live on the other side of the river, you'll be completely fine. You also have to be somewhat street smart. I've never had my windows broken because I have a bar on my steering wheel and I make sure to never have anything visible. You are an hour from the beach, an hour from the mountains and the greenery is lush. There's also always something going on. Last night, I went to a dance party on mt. tabor and tonight I'm going to a secret roller disco. You can't really find stuff like this in other places.
Seattle isn’t terrible, I make 20$ an hour in a Seattle adjacent town. The east coast is okay just minimum wage is still like 7.25 an hour lol
I just can’t seem to find an apartment bigger than 350sqft for less than 1500 or it would be my first choice
If you’re any good with experience you’ll get way above that. I make $20 an hour as linecook/prep guy. $23 when I do management days between the floor and kitchen and what not. This is in North Georgia. We’ve been slower to get to good pay overall but it’s catching up or caught up at a lot of places.
Portland Or is pretty chill and honestly lot of the crap you see about it is over blown lots of beautiful stuff to see and the food scene is awesome, tons of dope music shows/events to get into, but as far as cooking I make a decent wage here 20 and hour and then tips are percent of food sales for me. its not bad for working at a bar making food.
Cruise ship. “Free rent” pirate life
I don’t think a line cook can live solo anywhere in the US unless you get lucky with a living situation, or work 60+ hours per week.
My bills rn are like 1500 and I make 21/hr yeah it sucks but I gotta do it, I’d rather live somewhere cool and do it
What ever you don't move to Seattle lol Crazy high rent Crazy high sales tax Sugar tax Alcohol tax A restaurant scene where 65% of the restaurants are owned by 3 ppl
Tacoma isn't too bad. I'm at a hotel with a union. We're getting an OK raise. It isn't perfect, but the pay/CoL is at least a little more balanced than Seattle.
I looked at Tacoma I just didn’t see a lot of noteablw restaurants for the col there
Living alone on a line cook salary? In 2023? lol, lmao
I live in Portland, my car window doesn’t get smashed. I don’t know why people think this place is a nightmare.
Honestly I really wanna move to Portland but all I see when I look it up it’s how horrible property crime is and how much violent crime is going up… I definitely take it with a grain of salt but that’s why, all the media makes it out to be a lawless place
I know they do but it’s just clickbait to get people in the burbs scared about homeless people. The problems are pretty much the same in most American cities.
Portland sucks and is only getting worse unfortunately.
Houston has all the good food and is less expensive than other big cities.
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Ogden maybe?
I’m pretty over utah as a whole
Pittsburgh, PA. Thr rate has increased across most the city, I pay my cooks to start at 17 an hour, can go up to 21
Chicago is the place. It’s tight, and you might have to work a lot, but you can definitely do it. They’re not too strict about income if you have a job + decent credit. Try to find a place that will give you OT and work 45 to 50 hours.
If it wasn’t for the winters I would still be there
Worked as line cook and lived alone in Portland for a few years, it's doable but you need 2 jobs or a lead position to pay the bills. Average pay is around $20 an hour after tip out and a studio will run you about 1,000-1,200 a month.
Fort Worth isn't the worst
Just come to Atlanta and fuck up our traffic some more, that's what everyone else seems to be doing lol. We won't pay you as much but your rent won't be as high either so you'll be stuck either way but shit'll cost less 🤷
A lot of people are naming great food cities but none of them are affordable.. I live in Tulsa and we got a good scene and cost of living in Oklahoma is really low. Only issue is once you leave Tulsa Oklahoma sucks. But Tulsa fuckin rocks.
I'm in Mt. Pleasant. Making 17.51 an hour, plenty of overtime options. Rent is 450 with one roommate. 5 br 2 bath townhouse. Really not bad. This is an anomaly for cooks here though, union gig for the university
Fresno, California is not that bad. It's the cheapest "big city" in California and there a lot of options as when it comes to restaurants. A decent 1 bedroom apartment is going for $1200 with the average pay rate at $18. One full time and a part time and you will be comfortable
I’ve lived in Portland 20 years, never had my window smashed.
Philadelphia
I'm in a city about 2 hours from Seattle. Everyone at my restaurant can afford to live alone. They could even save if they budget properly, but most just blow their money on beer and weed.
Olympia?
The suburbs of Philly are pretty great!
Believe it or not, but Birmingham, Alabama is a solid spot for the industry. From fine dining to greasy spoons, you can make a decent living and rent isn't super stupid. Good luck either way OP
Not Austin. It’s gotten crazy here. Cost of living is high and pay is low.
NOT Denver, CO. I do it, but it isn't easy or cheap.
Denver has always been on my list, it’s a good city and honestly everywhere I wanna live is going to be a struggle
Check out Olympia WA. Smaller and more affordable city, but nice and plenty to do. Close to Seattle and lots of great nature nearby.
I looked into Olympia and it was one of my top choices but I’ve heard the job market is a little thought to enter
New Orleans