Bartender, cook, and waitress vs restaurant server

The differences between bartender, cook, and waitresses and restaurant servers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a bartender, cook, and waitress has an average salary of $27,827, which is higher than the $24,558 average annual salary of a restaurant server.

The top three skills for a bartender, cook, and waitress include food orders, customer orders and bartending. The most important skills for a restaurant server are wine, exceptional dining, and guest satisfaction.

Bartender, cook, and waitress vs restaurant server overview

	Bartender, Cook, And Waitress	Restaurant Server
Yearly salary	$27,827	$24,558
Hourly rate	$13.38	$11.81
Growth rate	10%	10%
Number of jobs	162,319	141,250
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 42%	Bachelor's Degree, 48%
Average age	28	28
Years of experience	-	-

What does a bartender, cook, and waitress do?

A bartender, cook, and waitress are employees who work in the food services industry and usually deal with customer orders and food preparations. Bartenders usually prepare alcoholic or non-alcoholic drinks for bar and restaurant patrons and assess the customers' needs. On the other hand, cooks assist chefs in the preparation of food and manage food stations when needed. Lastly, waitresses interact with restaurant customers by taking food orders and serving them appropriately to the customers.

What does a restaurant server do?

Also called food servers, restaurant servers perform food preparation, cleaning duties, and customer service in casual dining eateries and restaurants. The food servers stock supplies, handle credit cards and the cash register, and clean restaurant counters and tables. They provide assistance to restaurant patrons to take orders, deliver food, and answer customer questions. The skills they need include trustworthiness, organization, customer relations, and communication skills.

Bartender, cook, and waitress vs restaurant server salary

Bartender, cook, and waitresses and restaurant servers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Bartender, Cook, And Waitress	Restaurant Server
Average salary	$27,827	$24,558
Salary range	Between $21,000 And $35,000	Between $15,000 And $37,000
Highest paying City	-	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	-	California
Best paying company	-	University of California, Berkeley
Best paying industry	-	Agriculture

Differences between bartender, cook, and waitress and restaurant server education

There are a few differences between a bartender, cook, and waitress and a restaurant server in terms of educational background:

	Bartender, Cook, And Waitress	Restaurant Server
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 42%	Bachelor's Degree, 48%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Bartender, cook, and waitress vs restaurant server demographics

Here are the differences between bartender, cook, and waitresses' and restaurant servers' demographics:

	Bartender, Cook, And Waitress	Restaurant Server
Average age	28	28
Gender ratio	Male, 5.4% Female, 94.6%	Male, 40.8% Female, 59.2%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.4% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 13.8% Asian, 7.8% White, 62.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 10.9% Unknown, 5.7% Hispanic or Latino, 20.9% Asian, 9.4% White, 52.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between bartender, cook, and waitress and restaurant server duties and responsibilities

Bartender, cook, and waitress example responsibilities.

General cleaning, and knowledge of POS systems.
Start off here as a cook, learned to bartend.
Operate a POS system to itemize and complete a customer purchases.
Develop relationships with regular patrons; develop an understanding of their personal needs and expectations, including preferences and food allergies.
Cook waitresses cashier hostess prep cook dishwasher
Generate detail checks utilizing micros systems.

Restaurant server example responsibilities.

Demonstrate adequate culinary and Italian wine knowledge through suggestive selling.
Input orders in micros and issue guest check for each order.
Prepare the groceries for the customer in their request baggage handing.3.
Maintain clean, sanitize FOH area and ensure health & safety and hygiene procedures and standards are meet.
Work with operations manager in ordering and setting up all FOH systems need in opening a new restaurant.
Provide thorough knowledge of the restaurant's menu to make recommendations or answer questions, and enter POS charges.

Bartender, cook, and waitress vs restaurant server skills

Common bartender, cook, and waitress skills

Food Orders, 16%
Customer Orders, 13%
Bartending, 8%
Food Preparation, 7%
Customer Service, 6%
Drink Orders, 5%

Common restaurant server skills

Wine, 28%
Exceptional Dining, 6%
Guest Satisfaction, 5%
Cleanliness, 5%
POS, 5%
Food Service, 5%

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Food Preparation and Restaurant Industry
Bartender, Cook, And Waitress
Bartender, Cook, And Waitress vs Restaurant Server

Updated January 8, 2025

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