How to hire an assistant restaurant manager

How to hire an assistant restaurant manager, step by step

Here's a step-by-step assistant restaurant manager hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write an assistant restaurant manager job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new assistant restaurant manager
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does an assistant restaurant manager do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The assistant restaurant manager hiring process starts by determining what type of worker you actually need. Certain roles might require a full-time employee, whereas part-time workers or contractors can do others.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them an assistant restaurant manager to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire an assistant restaurant manager that fits the bill.

   This list shows salaries for various types of assistant restaurant managers.

   Type of Assistant Restaurant Manager	Description	Hourly rate
   Assistant Restaurant Manager	Food service managers are responsible for the daily operation of restaurants and other establishments that prepare and serve food and beverages. They direct staff to ensure that customers are satisfied with their dining experience, and they manage the business to ensure that it is profitable.	$15-29
   Food Manager	A food manager oversees the operations at various dining establishments, ensuring efficient food services and client satisfaction. Their responsibilities typically include managing the staff, setting schedules and guidelines, establishing objectives and budgets, liaising with vendors and suppliers, delegating tasks, and developing strategies to optimize overall operations... Show more	$11-27
   Floor Manager	A floor manager is responsible for supervising the general operations of a specific department in an organization. Floor manager tasks include assisting customers, ensuring prompt resolution of clients' inquiries, distributing tasks to the staff, and monitoring the employees' performance... Show more	$15-27

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Customer Service
   • Cleanliness
   • Food Service
   • Product Quality
   • Restaurant Operations
   • Guest Service
   • Work Ethic
   • Customer Satisfaction
   • Food Safety
   • Quality Guest
   • POS
   • Math
   • Guest Satisfaction
   • Customer Complaints

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage the food and beverage operation of Mobil 5-Star and AAA 5-Diamond hotel.
   • Monitor and manage beverage and wine supplies, completing monthly reconciliations to ensure inventory accuracy.
   • Coordinate, communicate and delegate FOH responsibilities to staff to ensure excellent operations are consistently achieve.
   • Schedule, set up and staff for functions, outings, wine tastings, fine dining evenings and other upscale events.
   • Guarantee above-average store inspections scores that exemplify store cleanliness, employee accountability, and food safety.
   • Interview, hire and train the restaurant and in-room dining staff.

   More assistant restaurant manager duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your assistant restaurant manager job description helps attract top candidates to the position. An assistant restaurant manager salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for an assistant restaurant manager in Kansas may be lower than in Rhode Island, and an entry-level assistant restaurant manager usually earns less than a senior-level assistant restaurant manager. Additionally, an assistant restaurant manager with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average assistant restaurant manager salary

   $45,620yearly

   $21.93 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level assistant restaurant manager salary

   $33,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 23, 2025

   Average assistant restaurant manager salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	New York	$60,407	$29
   2	California	$57,071	$27
   3	Pennsylvania	$56,098	$27
   4	District of Columbia	$54,378	$26
   5	Nevada	$51,369	$25
   6	Maryland	$50,536	$24
   7	Oregon	$50,017	$24
   8	Washington	$49,962	$24
   9	Wisconsin	$47,351	$23
   10	Virginia	$47,200	$23
   11	Ohio	$45,779	$22
   12	West Virginia	$45,745	$22
   13	Indiana	$45,648	$22
   14	Mississippi	$42,589	$20
   15	Illinois	$42,555	$20
   16	Georgia	$42,502	$20
   17	Texas	$42,341	$20
   18	Tennessee	$42,279	$20
   19	North Carolina	$41,737	$20
   20	Florida	$40,777	$20

   Average assistant restaurant manager salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Buca di Beppo	$61,896	$29.76
   2	V-Soft Consulting	$60,502	$29.09
   3	Nugget Casino Resort	$59,900	$28.80
   4	Bertucci's	$58,828	$28.28	3
   5	Aspen Snowmass	$57,023	$27.41	18
   6	Cafe Escadrille	$56,068	$26.96
   7	On The Border	$55,966	$26.91	24
   8	Flynn Restaurant Group	$55,874	$26.86
   9	Texas Roadhouse	$55,414	$26.64	271
   10	The Culinary Institute of America	$55,116	$26.50	2
   11	Duquesne Club	$54,662	$26.28	2
   12	Taco John's	$53,431	$25.69	80
   13	Monarch Casino & Resort	$52,912	$25.44	12
   14	The Briad Group	$52,596	$25.29
   15	Maple Street Biscuit	$52,588	$25.28
   16	TooJay's	$52,556	$25.27	16
   17	InterContinental Hotels Group Resources, Inc.	$52,043	$25.02	10
   18	Logan's Roadhouse	$51,935	$24.97	1
   19	Carrabba's	$51,740	$24.88
   20	Corner Bakery Cafe	$51,518	$24.77

4. Writing an assistant restaurant manager job description

   A job description for an assistant restaurant manager role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's an assistant restaurant manager job description:

   Assistant restaurant manager job description example

   Job DescriptionIf operating a restaurant is your dream career, you can make it happen at Red Lobster.
   
   As a Restaurant Manager, you will be responsible for leading restaurant operations with a focus on delivering high quality seafood and beverage service while maximizing our guest satisfaction. You will hire, train and inspire the people that make your restaurant standout.
   Here’s more of what you’ll get to do: Driving sales and guest satisfaction Creating a FUN safe environment for team members to develop Ensuring compliance with all employment policies Managing performance of team members, including conducting performance evaluations, training, coaching, and discipline Selecting top talent to add to our winning team Understanding, and practicing safe food handling procedures while maintaining a clean and safe environment for guest at all times Train with the best in the business AND FAST TRACK TO THE CAREER YOU WANT!
   
   No other restaurant company puts more effort into developing talent than Red Lobster. We offer an award-winning 11 week in-restaurant training program for new managers, individual development plans and ongoing training and certification programs to keep you at the top of your game.
   
   Our leadership mentors and develops team members so that they can fast track to reach their career goals. We take pride in our commitment to giving our managers an increased degree of flexibility to help balance their busy lives while supporting their professional goals.
   
   Enjoy work-life balance.
   
   Our managers’ quality of life is very important to us. Balance is achieved by working with everyone’s schedules and having operating hours between 11 a.m. and 11 p.m. Say goodbye to early mornings and late nights!
   
   Get benefits worth bragging about. Competitive base salary & achievable quarterly bonus eligibility Immediate eligibility for medical, dental, vision insurance 401K retirement savings plan (company match after 1 year of service) Paid vacation, Dining discounts, Tuition reimbursement program and student loan support Education, Experience and other Key Qualifications High school diploma or equivalent required; Bachelor’s degree preferred Must be at least 21 years of age 1+ years management or supervisory experience in restaurant, hotel, retail or general business required *2+ years casual dining or full service restaurant management experience preferred ServSafe, local and state certifications or the ability to obtain required Come join our team and find out why we have the lowest turnover in team members and managers in the industry. Winner of America’s Best Employers- Forbes 2 years in a row. Get started today!

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right assistant restaurant manager for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with assistant restaurant managers they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit assistant restaurant managers who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your assistant restaurant manager job on Zippia to find and recruit assistant restaurant manager candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   During your first interview to recruit assistant restaurant managers, engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. During the following interview, you'll be able to go into more detail about the company, the position, and the responsibilities.

   Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new assistant restaurant manager

   Once you've found the assistant restaurant manager candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new assistant restaurant manager. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire an assistant restaurant manager?