How To Become A Dining Room Manager: What It Is and Career Path

What is a dining room manager and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

This is not a regular job description that you see every day. A Dining Room Manager is responsible for facilitating communication between the kitchen and the dining area. They are also tasked with hiring, training, and supervising kitchen staff and enforcing dining room policies. They are often seen in the hospitality industry: hotels, five-star restaurants, etc. They are tasked with the secondary responsibility of ensuring that customers are well greeted and their orders are well taken and delivered.

There are some skills you need to acquire to increase your chances of getting this job. Some of them include good customer service skills, flexibility, interpersonal skills, good communication skills, problem-solving skills, organizational skills, and teamwork. As for the salary structure of Dining Room Managers, it depends on the size of the organization, your experience on the job, and your country of residents. In a country like the United States, an average Dining Room Manager earns between $36,300, $45,200, $52,100, and $58,382.

ScoreDining Room ManagerUS Average

Salary

3.9

Avg. Salary $49,372

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

9.1

Growth rate 10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

7.3

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.56%

Asian 8.46%

Black or African American 10.37%

Hispanic or Latino 15.59%

Unknown 4.88%

White 60.14%

Gender

female 57.08%

male 42.92%

Age - 38

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 - 38

Stress level

9.1

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

5.3

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.0

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a dining room manager

Explore dining room manager education requirements

Most common dining room manager degrees

Bachelor's

50.9 %

Associate

26.1 %

High School Diploma

14.1 %

Start to develop specific dining room manager skills

Skills	Percentages
Fine Dining	27.40%
Food Service	12.35%
Good Judgment	12.28%
Cleanliness	11.87%
Customer Service	4.68%

Complete relevant dining room manager training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New dining room managers 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 dining room manager based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real dining room manager resumes.

Gain additional dining room manager certifications

Dining room manager certifications can show employers you have a baseline of knowledge expected for the position. Certifications can also make you a more competitive candidate. Even if employers don't require a specific dining room manager certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.

The most common certifications for dining room managers include Food Safety Manager Certification and Certified Food Manager (CFM).

More About Certifications

Research dining room manager duties and responsibilities

Interview, hire, train, and manage take-out and in-room delivery staff.
Control operational costs by managing bar and wine inventory.
Manage payroll and timekeeping, and effectively complete proper paperwork for new hires and terminations.
Manage daily FOH staff line-up, covering necessary instruction and education concerning fine-dining service and beverage, menu and company knowledge.

Prepare your dining room manager resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your dining room manager 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 dining room manager resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable dining room manager resume templates

Build a professional dining room manager 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 dining room manager resume.