Lead the kitchen at one of West Texas' premier brewpubs, where scratch-made food, craft beer, and a great team come together every day.
Location: 202 Pine Street, Suite 201, Abilene, TX 79601 Job Type: Full-Time Compensation: Competitive salary + performance bonuses Benefits: Health, vision, dental, and employee discounts
About Grain Theory
Grain Theory is Abilene’s neighborhood brewpub where exceptional craft beer and scratch-made food come together. We brew our own beer on-site and pair it with a chef-driven menu in a relaxed, welcoming atmosphere. Our concept is intentionally different—guests order at the bar and pick up their meals from our kitchen window, creating an indoor food truck experience inside a modern brewery.
We’re passionate about quality, hospitality, creativity, and building a team that enjoys coming to work every day. If you love great food, craft beer, leading people, and creating memorable guest experiences, we’d love to meet you.
The Role
We’re looking for an experienced Head Chef who leads by example and thrives in a hands-on kitchen. This is not a desk job—it’s a working chef position for someone who enjoys cooking alongside the team while providing leadership, coaching, and accountability.
You'll oversee every aspect of our scratch kitchen—from menu development and recipe standardization to staffing, inventory management, food costs, catering, and maintaining exceptional quality and food safety standards.
You’ll have the opportunity to shape our food program while working closely with ownership to continue growing one of West Texas’ premier brewpub destinations.
The Responsibilities
Menu & Recipe Development
- Design and evolve breakfast, lunch, and dinner menus
- Write and standardize recipes for consistency across shifts and staff
- Develop specials that keep regulars coming back and give us something worth posting about
- Ensure every dish meets Grain Theory’s quality standards.
- Continuously improve menu offerings based on guest feedback, seasonality, and profitability.
Kitchen Leadership & Staff Development
- Lead and inspire the kitchen team through positive, hands-on leadership.
- Recruit, train, mentor, and develop kitchen staff.
- Build schedules that balance labor efficiency with operational excellence.
- Foster a culture built on accountability, professionalism, mutual respect, high standards, and leaving egos at the door.
- Lead by example during every service.
Operations & Cost Control
- Oversee daily kitchen operations from prep through service.
- Manage inventory, ordering, and vendor relationships
- Monitor food cost, labor cost, and kitchen performance metrics.
- Identify opportunities to improve efficiency without sacrificing quality.
- Help achieve profitability goals through smart purchasing, inventory management, and waste reduction.
- Assist with planning and executing in-house catering and special events.
- Maintain equipment and communicate maintenance needs before they become emergencies.
Health, Safety & Compliance
- Maintain the highest standards of sanitation and food safety.
- Ensure compliance with all local, state, and health department regulations.
- Keep the kitchen organized, clean, and inspection-ready at all times.
- Train staff on proper food handling and safety procedures.
Your Qualifications
- 5+ years of professional chef experience
- 2+ years of consistent kitchen management and leadership experience (scheduling, hiring, training, running a team)
- Current Food Manager Certification
- A scratch-cooking background — you build flavor from real ingredients, not shortcuts
- Strong knowledge of inventory management, ordering, and food costing.
- Comfort working in a fast-paced, order-at-the-counter environment
- Proven leadership skills with a passion for coaching, mentoring, and developing others.
- Flexibility to work evenings, weekends, and occasional events
- A personality that fits a brewery — professional where it counts, laid-back where it doesn't
- Ability to lift up to 60 pounds
What Makes You Successful
You’re someone who:
- Loves being in the kitchen and leading from the front.
- Takes pride in developing people and building strong teams.
- Holds yourself and others to high standards.
- Stays calm under pressure.
- Thinks creatively while remaining disciplined with costs.
- Cares as much about consistency as creativity.
- Wants to build something special with a team that enjoys working together.
- Enjoys collaborating with owners, bartenders, and kitchen staff to create a great guest experience.
Why Grain Theory
- Competitive salary with performance bonuses
- Health, vision, and dental coverage
- Employee discounts on food and beer
- Creative ownership over the menu—we'll collaborate, but you'll have the opportunity to make the kitchen your own.
- A brewery family that shows up for the community and for each other
- We’re an independent brewery that believes great beer deserves equally great food. Our team values collaboration, creativity, continuous improvement, and genuine hospitality. We work hard, have fun, and are always looking for ways to make our guest experience even better.
- If you’re looking for a place where your ideas matter, your leadership is valued, and your food can make an impact every day, we’d love to hear from you.
How to Apply
We hire talented people because we trust them. You'll have the opportunity to bring ideas, improve systems, create memorable dishes, and help shape the future of our food program alongside ownership.
Ready to lead our kitchen? We'd love to hear from you. Complete our employment application and upload your resume at www.graintheory.beer/employment
Want to get a feel for who we are? Follow @graintheorybeer on Instagram and Facebook to see our food, beer, and community.
Pay: $55,000.00 - $65,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Dental insurance
- Food provided
- Health insurance
- Paid time off
- Vision insurance
Experience:
- Kitchen management & head chef: 2 years (Preferred)
License/Certification:
- food manager certification (Preferred)
Work Location: In person
