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The differences between dining room servers and bartender servers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a bartender server has an average salary of $32,591, which is higher than the $29,540 average annual salary of a dining room server.
The top three skills for a dining room server include fine dining, food service and cleanliness. The most important skills for a bartender server are bartending, POS, and non-alcoholic beverages.
| Dining Room Server | Bartender Server | |
| Yearly salary | $29,540 | $32,591 |
| Hourly rate | $14.20 | $15.67 |
| Growth rate | 9% | 18% |
| Number of jobs | 99,079 | 106,784 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 42% | Bachelor's Degree, 44% |
| Average age | 39 | 34 |
| Years of experience | - | 2 |
A dining room server performs various tasks to give patrons a positive dining experience. Their job usually entails greeting customers and presenting the menu, taking their orders, answering inquiries, recommending products and other services, serving drinks and food, and handling concerns professionally and courteously. They are also responsible for coordinating with cashiers and kitchen staff, cleaning and preparing tables for new customers, and assisting staff as needed. In some establishments, a dining room server may also participate in preparing drinks or ingredients, monitoring supply inventories, and collecting payments.
Bartender servers are employees who work in the restaurant's bar area. They are responsible for assembling customers' drink orders and serving these to customers. They should be sound drink mixers and must be familiar with cocktail combinations and other mixes. They should also know the ingredients of the restaurant's drinks and should be able to use alternatives should specific components be unavailable. Some bartender servers engage in flairtending, a way of mixing drinks that entertains the guests waiting for their drinks.
Dining room servers and bartender servers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Dining Room Server | Bartender Server | |
| Average salary | $29,540 | $32,591 |
| Salary range | Between $23,000 And $37,000 | Between $23,000 And $46,000 |
| Highest paying City | Marysville, WA | Edmonds, WA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | Hawaii |
| Best paying company | Eastmont School District | Earth Fare |
| Best paying industry | Hospitality | Hospitality |
There are a few differences between a dining room server and a bartender server in terms of educational background:
| Dining Room Server | Bartender Server | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 42% | Bachelor's Degree, 44% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between dining room servers' and bartender servers' demographics:
| Dining Room Server | Bartender Server | |
| Average age | 39 | 34 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 35.1% Female, 64.9% | Male, 33.8% Female, 66.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.0% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 13.5% Asian, 7.5% White, 62.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2% | Black or African American, 5.9% Unknown, 6.1% Hispanic or Latino, 18.4% Asian, 3.8% White, 65.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 8% |