What does a food and beverage supervisor do?
A Food and Beverage Supervisors role is to make sure that guests food and beverage expectations are being met or exceeded. They supervise all of the issues related to a patrons dining experience, like quality control, staff management, health and safety regulations.
Food and beverage supervisor responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real food and beverage supervisor resumes:
- Manage daily beverage shift operations of a team of 140 employees consisting of bartenders, bar backs, and beverage servers.
- Manage all FOH positions, including scheduling, developing and coaching employees, motivating the team and continuing to drive sales.
- Use of POS system and control daily activities that servers and bartenders do in every guests open/close check.
- Conduct monthly beverage inventory for bar, restaurant and room service of liquor beer and wine of over $25k.
- Schedule catering and staff for hospital VIP events.
- Set up buffets to maintain foods at proper temperatures.
- Oversee game day events, VIP events, and private catering functions.
- Improve POS system throughout the year to reduce stress on kitchen staff and increase their productivity.
- Supervise 250 employees, two full service restaurants, two food outlets, one coffee shop and ten bars.
- Position require developing numerous projects, such as, but not limit to comprehensive employee incentive and wine training programs.
- Monitor quality control specifications, marketing, mass communications, quality assurance and HACCP guidelines for the food and nutrition department.
- Conduct daily inventory and payroll review.
- Supervise orientation with new cocktail servers and bartenders.
- Maintain accurate daily paperwork, including payroll and inventory.
- Maintain inventory of bars and are responsible for ordering all stewarding requests
Food and beverage supervisor skills and personality traits
We calculated that 11% of Food And Beverage Supervisors are proficient in Cleanliness, Customer Service, and Guest Service. They’re also known for soft skills such as Business skills, Communication skills, and Customer-service skills.
We break down the percentage of Food And Beverage Supervisors that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Cleanliness, 11%
Monitored and maintained cleanliness, sanitation and organization of assigned work areas in accordance to health department and company standards.
- Customer Service, 8%
Communicate with all departments to ensure customer service needs are met and maintain profitability of outlets to support overall hotel operation.
- Guest Service, 6%
Created innovative processes for guest service satisfaction that resulted in increased ratings on guest satisfaction surveys.
- Guest Satisfaction, 5%
Supervised and monitored product quality and guest satisfaction in Food and Beverage department.
- Wine, 4%
Position required developing numerous projects, such as, but not limited to comprehensive employee incentive and wine training programs.
- Food Handling, 4%
Enforce sanitary practices for food handling, Daily Restaurants Inspections, and maintenance of kitchen area.
Common skills that a food and beverage supervisor uses to do their job include "cleanliness," "customer service," and "guest service." You can find details on the most important food and beverage supervisor responsibilities below.
Business skills. The most essential soft skill for a food and beverage supervisor to carry out their responsibilities is business skills. This skill is important for the role because "food service managers must understand all aspects of the restaurant business, including how to budget for supplies, comply with regulations, and manage workers." Additionally, a food and beverage supervisor resume shows how their duties depend on business skills: "ensured smooth operations in a 24-hour business correcting cashier errors on micros cash registers. "
Communication skills. Many food and beverage supervisor duties rely on communication skills. "food service managers must give clear orders to staff and be able to convey information effectively to employees and customers.," so a food and beverage supervisor will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways food and beverage supervisor responsibilities rely on communication skills: "promoted teamwork and quality service through daily communication and coordination with other departments. "
Customer-service skills. food and beverage supervisors are also known for customer-service skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to food and beverage supervisor responsibilities, because "food service managers must be courteous and attentive when dealing with patrons." A food and beverage supervisor resume example shows how customer-service skills is used in the workplace: "managed multiple tasks in a demanding, fast-paced environment while ensuing superior standards and maintaining quality guest experience. "
Leadership skills. Another crucial skill for a food and beverage supervisor to carry out their responsibilities is "leadership skills." A big part of what food and beverage supervisors relies on this skill, since "managers must establish good relationships with staff to maintain a productive work environment." How this skill relates to food and beverage supervisor duties can be seen in an example from a food and beverage supervisor resume snippet: "maintained food handling and sanitation standards acted as department head for six months during a transition of leadership. "
Organizational skills. Another skill commonly found on food and beverage supervisor job descriptions is "organizational skills." It can come up quite often in food and beverage supervisor duties, since "managers have many different responsibilities, including scheduling and overseeing staff, budgeting, and maintaining financial records." Here's an example from a resume of how this skill fits into day-to-day food and beverage supervisor responsibilities: "identify recommend, develop, and implement new ways to increase organizational efficiency, productivity, quality, and labor costs. "
The three companies that hire the most food and beverage supervisors are:
- Great Wolf Resorts161 food and beverage supervisors jobs
- Aimbridge Hospitality84 food and beverage supervisors jobs
- Target47 food and beverage supervisors jobs
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Compare different food and beverage supervisors
Food and beverage supervisor vs. Sous chef
A sous chef is responsible for directing food preparation and general kitchen tasks with the supervision of an executive chef. A sous chef duties also include customizing healthy menus, maintaining quality check for foods, adhering to the highest sanitation procedures and standards, monitoring food and equipment supplies, suggesting new specialties, assisting customer's inquiries, and managing client's complaints. A sous chef must have excellent communication and decision-making skills, as well as updated with the current food trends to provide the best services for the customers.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between food and beverage supervisors and sous chef. For instance, food and beverage supervisor responsibilities require skills such as "guest service," "pos," "payroll," and "beverage outlets." Whereas a sous chef is skilled in "kitchen operations," "chefs," "cuisine," and "kitchen equipment." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Sous chefs really shine in the government industry with an average salary of $52,076. Comparatively, food and beverage supervisors tend to make the most money in the media industry with an average salary of $38,975.On average, sous chefs reach similar levels of education than food and beverage supervisors. Sous chefs are 2.1% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.0% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Food and beverage supervisor vs. Executive chef
Executive chefs are considered the lead chefs in a restaurant. They manage the restaurant's kitchen, including all other chefs employed by the restaurant. Executive chefs are in charge of creating menu items and ensuring that the restaurant's menu is in line with the restaurant's identity. They handle the management of the pantry and ensure that it is well-stocked. They also ensure that all kitchen equipment and fixtures are working well. Executive chefs are responsible for training new chefs on the job to ensure consistent food quality.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, food and beverage supervisor responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "guest service," "pos," "payroll," and "beverage outlets." Meanwhile, an executive chef has duties that require skills in areas such as "kitchen operations," "menu development," "patients," and "cuisine." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Executive chefs may earn a higher salary than food and beverage supervisors, but executive chefs earn the most pay in the hospitality industry with an average salary of $60,122. On the other hand, food and beverage supervisors receive higher pay in the media industry, where they earn an average salary of $38,975.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Executive chefs tend to reach similar levels of education than food and beverage supervisors. In fact, they're 1.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Food and beverage supervisor vs. Line chef
Line Chefs are in charge of cooking or preparing meat, vegetables, soup, and other ingredients according to area guidelines. Their responsibilities include managing and supervising kitchen staff, coordinating with fellow chefs, replenishing supply inventories, and setting-up cooking areas, ensuring adequate and high-quality ingredients. Among their other usual tasks involve cutting vegetables and meat, preparing sauces, and resolving issues should any arise. Moreover, they must maintain their designated area's cleanliness, all while enforcing and adhering to the health and sanitation standards.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, food and beverage supervisors are more likely to have skills like "guest service," "guest satisfaction," "wine," and "pos." But a line chef is more likely to have skills like "kitchen equipment," "sanitation standards," "broilers," and "patients."
Line chefs earn the best pay in the education industry, where they command an average salary of $28,064. Food and beverage supervisors earn the highest pay from the media industry, with an average salary of $38,975.When it comes to education, line chefs tend to earn similar degree levels compared to food and beverage supervisors. In fact, they're 2.5% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.0% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Food and beverage supervisor vs. Restaurant/bar manager
Types of food and beverage supervisor
Updated January 8, 2025
