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The differences between cocktail waitresses and food servers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a cocktail waitress has an average salary of $26,819, which is higher than the $25,209 average annual salary of a food server.
The top three skills for a cocktail waitress include customer service, drink orders and non-alcoholic beverages. The most important skills for a food server are beverage orders, wine, and cleanliness.
| Cocktail Waitress | Food Server | |
| Yearly salary | $26,819 | $25,209 |
| Hourly rate | $12.89 | $12.12 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 9% |
| Number of jobs | 77,429 | 125,455 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 35% | High School Diploma, 36% |
| Average age | 28 | 42 |
| 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 Food Server specializes in helping customers attain a pleasant dining experience while ensuring to meet all food handling and health regulation standards. Most of the responsibilities revolve around greeting customers and directing them to comfortable seats, responding to their inquires and taking their orders, and courteously suggesting options. Aside from serving meals, Food Servers must also accept payments, organize order receipts, replenish stocks in food containers and drinking stations, and clean tables for the new customers.
Cocktail waitresses and food servers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Cocktail Waitress | Food Server | |
| Average salary | $26,819 | $25,209 |
| Salary range | Between $19,000 And $36,000 | Between $18,000 And $34,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | Los Angeles, CA |
| Highest paying state | - | Vermont |
| Best paying company | - | Gettysburg College |
| Best paying industry | - | Retail |
There are a few differences between a cocktail waitress and a food server in terms of educational background:
| Cocktail Waitress | Food Server | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 35% | High School Diploma, 36% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between cocktail waitresses' and food servers' demographics:
| Cocktail Waitress | Food Server | |
| Average age | 28 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 5.7% Female, 94.3% | Male, 36.0% Female, 64.0% |
| 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, 4.2% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 20.4% Asian, 8.7% White, 60.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 7% |