How To Become A Cocktail Server: What It Is and Career Path

What is a cocktail server and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

A cocktail server takes orders and serves food, drinks, beverages, cocktails, and other available drinks in a restaurant, bar, or club. A cocktail server also cleans and clears the tables and makes sure the environment is tidied up as well. As a cocktail server, you are to see to the satisfaction of customers, by taking their orders, providing them with accurate bills, and processing payments. A cocktail server also makes recommendations about the drinks that are available for them to purchase.

You must have a high school diploma and adequate experience in serving. To succeed as a cocktail server, you should be good at multitasking and be a friendly and active person. An ability to create a fun-filled environment around customers will be very crucial for this role. Furthermore, you should have a vast knowledge about drinks such as wine, cocktails, beer, and so on. Cocktail servers earn up to $11 per hour and $31,406 annually.

ScoreCocktail ServerUS Average

Salary

2.0

Avg. Salary $26,178

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.2

Growth rate 10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.91%

Asian 8.12%

Black or African American 10.72%

Hispanic or Latino 22.82%

Unknown 6.05%

White 51.38%

Gender

female 86.97%

male 13.03%

Age - 25

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 25

Stress level

6.2

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.1

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

10.0

Work life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a cocktail server

Explore cocktail server education requirements

Most common cocktail server degrees

Bachelor's

40.5 %

High School Diploma

24.9 %

Associate

22.1 %

Start to develop specific cocktail server skills

Skills	Percentages
Wine	12.74%
Cash Handling	6.84%
Beverage Orders	6.50%
Cleanliness	5.85%
Guest Satisfaction	5.80%

Complete relevant cocktail server training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New cocktail servers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a cocktail server based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real cocktail server resumes.

Research cocktail server duties and responsibilities

Ensure club cleanliness and provide amazing customer service to every individual.
Experience handling money and using a cash register, as well as the micros systems.
Take customers' orders and input into POS, run food, bus tables, help other servers as needed.
Provide a fun, safe and friendly atmosphere for customers, while providing excellent service serving cocktails, wine and beer.

Prepare your cocktail server resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your cocktail server resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a cocktail server resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable cocktail server resume templates

Build a professional cocktail server resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your cocktail server resume.

Apply for cocktail server jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a cocktail server job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do cocktail servers rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Cocktail server reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Oct 2019

Pros

Most waiter and waitress jobs are entry level, and workers learn through short-term on-the-job training. No formal education or previous work experience is required to enter the occupation. Most states require workers who serve alcoholic beverages to be at least 18 years of age, but some states require servers to be older. Waiters and waitresses who serve alcohol must be familiar with state and local laws concerning the sale of alcoholic beverages.

Cons

Nothing because this job cocktail service is nice and I'm comfortable to serve our costumer.. And I want this job because vases on my Japanese work experience