18 Great Gift Ideas for a Cafeteria Worker

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Cafeteria illustration

Maybe you’re a middle school or high school student who has that lovely ‘lunch lady’ you want to gift. Or maybe you just know someone who happens to be a cafeteria worker and you want to show your appreciation with a gift related to what they do. In whichever case, we prepared a gift idea list long enough that you won’t have any trouble choosing a gift for them!

  1. Slip Resistant Shoes
    With how greasy kitchens can get, so do their floors, making slips more likely to happen. These slip resistant shoes help prevent slips (even more so when considering that water can sometimes get spilled on the floor), and they are great for cafeteria workers that work long shifts in the kitchen due to their memory foam footbed that makes it much more comfortable!
  2. Sandwich Maker
    Especially if that cafeteria worker you know happens to be self-employed in their own cafeteria (or even as a gift for their kitchen at home), things that’ll enhance their kitchen and make preparing food more practical are some of the stuff that they’d love to be given. This sandwich maker comes with a timer, enabling them to focus on other activities while it prepares up to two custom sandwiches at the same time, and it’s easy to clean up too!
  3. Professional Kitchen Apron
    It’s not uncommon for cafeteria employers to not provide their workers with work-related clothing such as aprons, and it can get pretty tiring having to clean clothes that you get dirty from spills during your job, wouldn’t you agree? Made from cotton, this kitchen apron is adjustable to various sizes. It comes with several pockets, helping them keep kitchen utensils on them while freeing their hands to do other stuff, it’s also machine washable and you can choose several style options to help them bring their personality to work!
  4. Insulated Tumbler
    It’s nice to get a heartfelt gift to remind them that they are, indeed, awesome – even more so when considering that a tumbler like this one is something that they can bring to work everyday, and depending on what beverage they prefer, it’ll be able to keep it cold or warm for hours.
  5. Most workers have to carry some stuff to work, and it’s no different for cafeteria workers. This backpack combines comfort and style in itself, with its unisex design it looks very fashionable while being able to fit all the various things they need to bring to work in a tidy way!
    • 【Effortless Charging Anywhere】Stay connected on the go with the Modoker Vintage Backpack, a perfect men women's backpack for those always on the move. The USB charging port and a charging cable ensures your devices are always powered up, making it an ideal laptop backpack for men as well.
    • 【Organize Your Essentials】This work backpack for women men is designed with multiple compartments to keep your essentials organized. The bookbag features a roomy main compartment for clothes, a dedicated laptop pocket, a front zipper pocket for valuable items, and two side pockets for water bottles, making it a versatile book bags for women and men.
    • 【High-Quality Materials】Crafted from high-quality lightweight 603D polyester material and soft inner materials, this backpack with laptop compartment is not just durable but also comfortable to carry. The vegan leather trim adds a touch of elegance, making it a stylish teacher backpack.
    • 【Versatile and Stylish】Embrace the vintage style with this vintage backpack, perfect for all your adventures. Whether you're looking for a small travel backpack or a spacious laptop backpack 15.6 inch, the Modoker Vintage Backpack is your great choice.
    • 【Comfort and Convenience】Suitable for adults of all ages, this adult backpack is perfect for day-to-day use with minimal weight, making it a great nursing backpack or canvas backpack for women. The adjustable and padded shoulder straps ensure you can carry all your essentials with ease.
  6. Vegetable Chopper With Container
    For cafeteria workers that have to prepare meals from scratch and are looking to upgrade their kitchen, this is one of the most useful gifts they could get! A vegetable chopper like this will save so much time and make one of the most boring and repetitive activities you can think of in the kitchen, a walk in the park, it’ll save them the trouble of having to clean the counter from spilled small vegetables as it comes with its own collection tray – not to mention the added safety from knife cuts that it provides.
  7. Stylish Kitchen Scrub Cap
    Cafeteria workers are required to prevent their hair from falling for obvious reasons, either by tying it up, or most commonly also covering it with a scrub cap. These kitchen scrub caps will add some variety to their usual working attires, and that’s without mentioning the other things that make it a quality cap: it comes with an elastic band that’ll adjust to the size of their head, making sure no hair fall will happen in the kitchen, and it also comes with a built-in sweatband!
  8. Cleansing Shampoo
    This one may seem a little bit out of character for a cafeteria worker, one might say. But have you ever stayed in a closed kitchen for hours, can you imagine how greasy your hair can get? This shampoo is made for all hair types and doesn’t leave the hair dry, as do most deep cleansing shampoos, this means you can’t go wrong when gifting it to someone, not even mentioning that it’s vegan-friendly!
  9. Airtight Food Container
    The same as some of our other gift ideas, this one is a spectacular gift to help make self-employed cafeteria workers keep their kitchen organized – but even if they aren’t, anyone would love to have an airtight food container kit like this one to keep their culinaire ingredients safe and fresh.
  10. Silicone Oven Mitts And Pot Holder Set
    For those that get the morning shift and are responsible for the kitchen tasks, including baking delicious cakes – they aren’t coming out of the ovens by themselves, you know, someone gotta take them out of there! This oven mitts and pot holder set is slip resistant due to its exterior being made out of silicone, and in addition to that, it’s waterproof, making it not get stained from spills.
  11. Kitchen Thermometer
    Some cafeteria workers, such as school cafeteria workers, have to get early to work to prepare meals, bake desserts, cakes, and sometimes even bread! A kitchen thermometer like this one will ensure that they don’t miss the mark in any type of food they make, it’s easily storable in their apron pockets and can be carried in their bag.
  12. Customized Pun T-Shirt
    If you’re a high schooler that has your own favorite ‘lunch lady’, or even if you just want to gift someone that works in a school cafeteria, why not go ahead and get this T-shirt for them? In case you didn’t get the pun, “nacho average lunch lady” sounds just like “not your average lunch lady”... yeah, I know, puns don’t have to be explained.
  13. Kitchen Torch
    A kitchen torch is a great tool to have in the hands of creative cafeteria workers, they can turn what would be regular desserts or lunches, into a dessert with caramelized sugar on top or a crunchy melted cheese sandwich.
  14. Slip Resistant Crocs
    We have already recommended some slip resistant shoes in this list, but for sure there are cafeteria workers who would want something a little bit easier to clean, guess what: these slip resistant crocs are really easy to clean any grease or spill that gets on them! The same as the other shoes, they’re great for kitchen use as they are slip resistant, and are also highly comfortable for long work shifts.
  15. Facial Cleanser
    As their hair can get pretty oily due to the nature of their job, cafeteria workers do get their faces greasy as well – some of them can even develop conditions related to clogged pores due to oils such as acne and blackheads. By having a face wash like this one, it’ll ensure they can keep their skin nice and clean after a long day of work without stripping the skin’s natural barrier or leaving it dry.
  16. Chef Beanie
    If that cafeteria worker you know takes pride in their cooking skills and helping in the kitchen, this one is for them. This chef’s beanie comes with an elastic closure to adjust to their head, has a mesh fabric that will keep their heads cool and prevent any sweat from dripping due to its internal sweatband, not to mention that its style will definitely make them feel like the star of the cafeteria!
  17. Healthy Fruit Dessert Maker
    To be honest, my mouth is watering just thinking about some of the ice cream desserts that could be made with this dessert maker. Who wouldn’t want it at their disposal in their kitchen? Not to mention the ease of using it, you just need some frozen fruits, put it into the machine, and bam, there you have your dairy free fruit ice cream!
  18. Herbal Balm For Burns
    As you might have noticed from some of our other gifts recommendations and descriptions, working inside a kitchen or with food for hours at a time comes with its risks – would they even call themselves cafeteria workers if they didn’t get a minor burn from time to time? This burn balm comes in a nice and neat small bottle that makes it easy to carry anywhere inside their bags, and you know that getting minor burns is something very common for these types of jobs, so grab one of these burn balms to gift that cafeteria worker you care about!