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The differences between cocktail waitresses and banquet servers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a banquet server has an average salary of $29,017, which is higher than the $26,819 average annual salary of a cocktail waitress.
The top three skills for a cocktail waitress include customer service, drink orders and non-alcoholic beverages. The most important skills for a banquet server are wine, cleanliness, and food service.
| Cocktail Waitress | Banquet Server | |
| Yearly salary | $26,819 | $29,017 |
| Hourly rate | $12.89 | $13.95 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 77,429 | 125,381 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 35% | Bachelor's Degree, 41% |
| Average age | 28 | 28 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
A cocktail waitress, or often called a cocktail server, is a female server who serves alcoholic beverages and food to patrons in nightclubs and bars. Cocktail waitresses are required to interact with customers by taking their food orders, serving them food and drinks, and then processing payments. To serve proper alcoholic drinks to customers, cocktail waitresses must be well informed about the drinks they serve, such as wine, beer, and cocktails. They also assist in checking identification to ensure that customers are of legal age to buy alcoholic drinks.
A banquet server is responsible for assisting guests in food catering events. Banquet servers' duties include arranging tables as the client desires, preparing the catering setup, refilling foods and beverages, managing guests' inquiries and possible complaints, keeping the food area clean, and maintaining the highest sanitation standards for the guests' best banquet experience. A banquet server should have excellent communication and time-management skills, especially on serving guests that would require utmost care and safe handling.
Cocktail waitresses and banquet servers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Cocktail Waitress | Banquet Server | |
| Average salary | $26,819 | $29,017 |
| Salary range | Between $19,000 And $36,000 | Between $20,000 And $40,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | - | Massachusetts |
| Best paying company | - | Endicott College |
| Best paying industry | - | Professional |
There are a few differences between a cocktail waitress and a banquet server in terms of educational background:
| Cocktail Waitress | Banquet Server | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 35% | Bachelor's Degree, 41% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between cocktail waitresses' and banquet servers' demographics:
| Cocktail Waitress | Banquet Server | |
| Average age | 28 | 28 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 5.7% Female, 94.3% | Male, 37.5% Female, 62.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.7% Unknown, 6.0% Hispanic or Latino, 21.6% Asian, 7.8% White, 53.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% | Black or African American, 11.6% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 19.7% Asian, 7.9% White, 54.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |