2 answers
Kumar’s Answer
Normally most of the restaurants in the US follow 40 hr week if you are hourly and occassionaly you might be puttiing in extra hours in a week.
If you are salaried you would be kinda managing the time so you dont burn yourself
If you own the restaruant then you will be putting a lot more than 40
In my career when you had a great team ( trained , motivated, passionate) the hours goes by faster and efficient
So it is subjective depending on where you work and who you work with
If you need more clarification add to the thread I would be glad to clarify any questions
Julia’s Answer
Head chefs typically have salary and their hours depend on the needs of the restaurant and their team. If someone calls out or doesn't show up, the chef needs to step in to support their team. But if your team is strong and reliable you can be home earlier than most industry folks.
Remember that fun weekend evenings are prime times for people to eat out, so service industry folks typically have their weekends during the week. It can be hard to keep in touch with friends and romantic partners who work standard office job hours when you're always at work whenever they're off, and vice versa.