Bar manager vs director of food and beverage

The differences between bar managers and directors of food and beverage can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a bar manager and a director of food and beverage. Additionally, a director of food and beverage has an average salary of $88,654, which is higher than the $46,828 average annual salary of a bar manager.

The top three skills for a bar manager include customer service, wine and beverage orders. The most important skills for a director of food and beverage are wine, customer service, and culinary.

Bar manager vs director of food and beverage overview

	Bar Manager	Director Of Food And Beverage
Yearly salary	$46,828	$88,654
Hourly rate	$22.51	$42.62
Growth rate	10%	10%
Number of jobs	165,633	130,685
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 50%	Bachelor's Degree, 60%
Average age	39	39
Years of experience	4	4

What does a bar manager do?

Bar managers are also called bar owners or supervisors of bar establishments. The managers are in charge of managing customer complaints, ensuring stocks in the bar, and in scheduling the jobs of employees. They oversee the overall operations of the bar, manage its staff, and ensure that the standards of products and services are met. They maintain the licensure of liquor and make sure that their staff follows the local regulations. Also, they see to it that customers are served promptly.

What does a director of food and beverage do?

A director of food and beverage is responsible for ensuring the quality of foods and services to maintain the guests' overall satisfaction on their dining experience. Food and beverage directors manage menu selections, analyzing current food trends to meet guests' demands. They also handle budget allocation, negotiating with reliable suppliers for high-quality materials and ingredients for minimal costs. A director of food and beverage must have excellent leadership and communication skills, observe strict sanitary standards and hygienic regulations for adherence of all personnel during operations.

Bar manager vs director of food and beverage salary

Bar managers and directors of food and beverage have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Bar Manager	Director Of Food And Beverage
Average salary	$46,828	$88,654
Salary range	Between $33,000 And $65,000	Between $63,000 And $124,000
Highest paying City	Greenwich, CT	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	New Jersey	Nevada
Best paying company	Greenwich Country Club	MUFG EMEA
Best paying industry	Government	Real Estate

Differences between bar manager and director of food and beverage education

There are a few differences between a bar manager and a director of food and beverage in terms of educational background:

	Bar Manager	Director Of Food And Beverage
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 50%	Bachelor's Degree, 60%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Cornell University	Cornell University

Bar manager vs director of food and beverage demographics

Here are the differences between bar managers' and directors of food and beverage' demographics:

	Bar Manager	Director Of Food And Beverage
Average age	39	39
Gender ratio	Male, 56.0% Female, 44.0%	Male, 80.9% Female, 19.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.7% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.0% Asian, 7.9% White, 60.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%	Black or African American, 10.7% Unknown, 5.9% Hispanic or Latino, 17.3% Asian, 8.5% White, 57.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	10%	10%

Differences between bar manager and director of food and beverage duties and responsibilities

Bar manager example responsibilities.

Manage liquor and wine inventory and develop cocktail menus taking advantage of fresh ingredients.
Inventory and order bar stock and manage FOH staff, as well as ensured food quality and timeliness of service.
Manage front-of-house operations for upscale wine bar and restaurant, including assisting in monitoring and management of inventory and finances.
Perform typical bartending duties including all aspects of customer service.
Direct all bartending operations as well as ordering and inventory management.
Help with shift movement according seniority while abiding by the bartender and culinary CBA.

Director of food and beverage example responsibilities.

Achieve established individual catering sales goals and assist team in achieving departmental booking goals.
Lead the implementation of a POS system that integrate mission-critical corporate data to achieve improve planning and management.
Lead development of catering programs for Marriott's full service brands.
Create reports, budgets and revenue forecast in Delphi in order to maintain and manage an efficient department.
Used Marriott computer applications to manage and administer events.
Manage and monitor daily operational duties of full service dining room for patients including creating and maintaining department budget.

Bar manager vs director of food and beverage skills

Common bar manager skills

Customer Service, 21%
Wine, 17%
Beverage Orders, 7%
Bartending, 5%
Payroll, 5%
POS, 5%

Common director of food and beverage skills

Wine, 10%
Customer Service, 7%
Culinary, 5%
BARS, 5%
Beverage Operations, 5%
Guest Service, 4%

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Bar Manager vs Director Of Food And Beverage

Updated January 8, 2025

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