Prep Cook

About Mama Taco

Mama Taco is a brand new, women-led breakfast taco business based in Oak Park/River Forest. We make simple, high quality grab and go breakfast tacos across three channels: wholesale to cafes and partners, retail direct to customers at events, and our Cold Stash bundles, fresh, refrigerated tacos customers can eat right away or freeze for later.

I started Mama Taco while postpartum with my second son, meal-prepping breakfast tacos as a grab and go option for those busy mornings once my husband and I went back to commuting into the city. And today, my favorite customers are postpartum parents who stash our breakfast tacos in the fridge/freezer for those 5am mornings, the 2pm pick-me-up, and the 8pm second dinner. We're built to serve and nurture our community. And as we think about scaling our production, we want to build towards catering next.

We're just getting started, so everyone who joins now helps shape how this company runs. We care a lot about keeping the kitchen a fun, positive place to work.

The Role

As our Prep Cook, you'll help us prep, assemble, and package our tacos to recipe and food safety standards. Because we're early-stage, this role goes beyond standard prep work. You'll get a front-row seat to how a food business actually comes together, and you'll help us build the systems as we go.

What You'll Do

• Prep ingredients and assemble tacos to recipe and quality standards
• Follow food safety and sanitation practices at all times
• Help with production tasks as needed, including packaging, and labeling
• Help track and document ingredients and production output, supporting our food safety and compliance recordkeeping
• Keep the kitchen clean, organized, and stocked throughout your shift
• Take direction well, and take initiative when you see something that needs doing
• Show up occasionally on camera for social media content, think casual behind-the-scenes kitchen clips
• Bring energy and ideas as we figure out what works, with real opportunity to grow into more responsibility as the business grows

What We're Looking For

• 1-3 years of kitchen or food prep experience
• Culinary schooling preferred, but not required
• Food Handler Certificate
• Positive, can-do energy, you help make the kitchen a good place to be
• Willing to learn and take direction, especially while we're still building our systems
• Comfortable with change, we're early-stage, so process and instructions may shift as we improve them
• Available for early mornings (starting around 5:30am), some daytime shifts, and/or some evenings (starting around 7-8pm)
• Comfortable being filmed for social content now and then
• Genuinely curious about food and small business, and excited to see how an early-stage company gets built
• Enthusiastic about supporting a women-led business and its mission
• Ability to stand for extended periods and lift/carry up to 50 lbs

Why Join Us

This is a chance to get in early with a small, ambitious team and grow alongside us. If you're excited about learning the real, hands-on side of running a food business, and you want to be somewhere that takes the work seriously but doesn't take itself too seriously, we'd love to hear from you.