What does a busser do?
Busser, also known as dining room attendants or bartender helpers, is an entry-level position in the restaurant and dining industry. The bussers help in preparing the dining areas before guests arrive and decorating tables with a set of candles, napkins, linens, flowers, or other ornaments, especially if with a special theme for the day, usually when it's a national celebration or holidays. Also, they assist in cleaning the tables, clearing plates, used utensils, drinkware, and other dishes to the kitchen to be washed, refilling diners' glasses with water, and make the tables ready for the next set of service.
Busser responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real busser resumes:
- Cross-Train in all kitchen culinary positions including broiler, saut, banquets and room service food production.
- Perform food preparation and serving duties, such as carving meat, preparing flambe dishes, or serving wine and liquor.
- Schedule reservations and place and deliver room service orders.
- Maintain both FOH and BOH duties in a fast-pace dining establishment.
- Clean the dirty tables and make sure the restaurant are in tip top shape and look good.
- Submit food and beverage orders to kitchen staff utilizing a POS register to tabulate and itemize orders.
- Assist bartenders with cleaning, restocking, changing kegs, pouring beers and wine, as well as servicing guests.
- Serve customers efficiently using POS system and always try to make their experience more enjoyable so they want to come back.
- Work store room deliver all equipment/dry products/ beer & liqour to differnt sections, stock bars, and bus on schooner.
- Distribute tip money by percentages to different positions.
- Schedule dining reservations and arrange special events for patrons.
- Respond to guests' inquiries with regard to culinary terminology and recommendation.
- Bond with employees and guests, ensure environment cleanliness, prepare carry-out/dine-in orders and ensure customer satisfaction.
- Be instrumental in a positive workplace environment with professional appearance and cleanliness, punctuality, and uplifting attitude towards personnel and staff
- Replenish and polish silverware/glassware receive from dishwasher.
Busser skills and personality traits
We calculated that 24% of Bussers are proficient in Cleanliness, Work Ethic, and TIP. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Customer-service skills, and Physical strength.
We break down the percentage of Bussers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Cleanliness, 24%
Bonded with employees and guests, ensured environment cleanliness, prepared carry-out/dine-in orders and ensured customer satisfaction.
- Work Ethic, 9%
Received various recognition from several managers for outstanding work ethic.
- TIP, 8%
Distributed tip money by percentages to different positions.
- Food Handling, 5%
Performed basic sanitation requirements regarding to food handling, personal hygiene and equipment safety.
- Dishwashers, 5%
Set up and tear down for events.-Serve beverages-Clear tables-Used dishwasher
- Bus Tables, 4%
Bus tables, maintain a clean environment, refill cups of water, greet guest, dish wash plates/cups, customer service
"cleanliness," "work ethic," and "tip" are among the most common skills that bussers use at work. You can find even more busser responsibilities below, including:
Communication skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a busser to have is communication skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "food and beverage serving and related workers must listen to customers’ orders and relay them correctly to the kitchen staff so that the orders are prepared as requested." Bussers often use communication skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "provided professional service and communication to all customers bussed food and maintained cleanliness of upscale restaurant"
Customer-service skills. Another essential skill to perform busser duties is customer-service skills. Bussers responsibilities require that "food service establishments rely on good food and customer service to keep customers and succeed in a competitive industry." Bussers also use customer-service skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "bus used and unneeded dishes and glassware from guests tables.maintain the cleanliness and safety of all common areas and service stations. "
Physical strength. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of bussers is physical strength. This skill is critical to many everyday busser duties, as "food and beverage serving and related workers need to be able to lift and carry stock and equipment that can weigh up to 50 pounds." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "strengthened communication and customer service skills. "
The three companies that hire the most bussers are:
- Darden Restaurants791 bussers jobs
- Bloomin' Brands652 bussers jobs
- Great Wolf Resorts409 bussers jobs
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Compare different bussers
Busser vs. Dining room coordinator
A room service server is an employee employed in a hotel or lodging to provide various services to the room occupants in the hotel. They often deliver ordered food, drinks, or movies to the occupants' rooms. Their duties and responsibilities include delivery of ordered foods or drinks, taking orders, collecting dirty dishes from rooms, and maintaining supplies and orders.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a busser are more likely to require skills like "cleanliness," "work ethic," "tip," and "food handling." On the other hand, a job as a dining room coordinator requires skills like "reservations," "in-room," "front desk," and "guest satisfaction." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
The education levels that dining room coordinators earn slightly differ from bussers. In particular, dining room coordinators are 3.5% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a busser. Additionally, they're 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Busser vs. Line attendant
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, busser responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "work ethic," "tip," "dishwashers," and "bus tables." Meanwhile, a line attendant has duties that require skills in areas such as "safety regulations," "osha," "math," and "quality issues." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
On average, line attendants earn a higher salary than bussers. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, line attendants earn the most pay in the manufacturing industry with an average salary of $33,717. Whereas bussers have higher pay in the hospitality industry, with an average salary of $25,199.line attendants earn similar levels of education than bussers in general. They're 0.6% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Busser vs. Dining service inspector
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a busser is likely to be skilled in "work ethic," "tip," "bus tables," and "wine," while a typical dining service inspector is skilled in "dishes," "culinary," "customer satisfaction," and "food safety guidelines."
Dining service inspectors earn the best pay in the hospitality industry, where they command an average salary of $31,321. Bussers earn the highest pay from the hospitality industry, with an average salary of $25,199.When it comes to education, dining service inspectors tend to earn similar degree levels compared to bussers. In fact, they're 1.6% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.2% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Busser vs. Room service server
Types of busser
Updated January 8, 2025
