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What does a food runner/busser do?

Updated January 8, 2025
6 min read
What does a food runner/busser do

A food runner or busser is an employee who works at a restaurant to provide quality food services to customers and patrons. Food runners or bussers perform food preparation and ensure that foods are delivered promptly to the appropriate customers' tables. In case the bar server is busy, food runners or bussers may take the drink orders of customers at the bar counter. They also make sure that tables are bussed, cleaned, and set up for the next paying customers.

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Food runner/busser responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real food runner/busser resumes:

  • Manage event reservations and party requests, inform customers about upcoming events and specials.
  • Educate and experience in fine dining experience, professional etiquette and wine knowledge
  • Operate a POS system, highly experience with cash handling methods.
  • Give assistance to clients at POS to ensure a pleasant shopping experience.
  • Note allergies and special accommodations on receipts to ensure customer safety and satisfaction.
  • Collaborate closely alongside coworkers to ensure customer satisfaction and overall cleanliness of the establishment.
  • Establish a positive relationship with co-workers and managers through a solid work ethic, positive attitude, punctuality and dependability.
  • Assist other employees by using fryers, cooking on the stove, using the oven, or using the toaster oven.
  • Combine attentiveness, patience, determination, and persistence to provide to a positive experience for guests.
  • Perform serving, cleaning, or stocking duties, such as cafeterias or dining rooms, to facilitate customer service.LEASING ADMINSTRATOR
  • Maintain customer attentiveness and a neat appearance.
  • Develop credibility and confidence with VIP guests by maintaining confidentiality and complying with company standards.

Food runner/busser skills and personality traits

We calculated that 14% of Food Runner/Bussers are proficient in Cleanliness, Wine, and Excellent Guest. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Customer-service skills, and Physical strength.

We break down the percentage of Food Runner/Bussers that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Cleanliness, 14%

    Collaborated closely alongside coworkers to ensure customer satisfaction and overall cleanliness of the establishment.

  • Wine, 13%

    Educated and experienced in fine dining experience, professional etiquette and wine knowledge

  • Excellent Guest, 8%

    Assisted servers and provided excellent guest satisfaction

  • Culinary, 6%

    Well Versed in The Culinary field involving from Stewarding to Prep Worker all the way to Busser/Food Server.

  • Water Glasses, 6%

    Distributed water glasses and deliver complimentary snacks for newly arrived guest.

  • Food Delivery, 5%

    Managed dine in tickets to insure proper time management of food delivery and ran the food to the appropriate table.

"cleanliness," "wine," and "excellent guest" are among the most common skills that food runner/bussers use at work. You can find even more food runner/busser responsibilities below, including:

Communication skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a food runner/busser to have is communication skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "food and beverage serving and related workers must listen carefully to their customers’ orders and relay them correctly to the kitchen staff so that the orders are prepared to the customers’ request." Food runner/bussers often use communication skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "cash handling pos skills communication skills organization skills"

Customer-service skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling food runner/busser duties is customer-service skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "food service establishments rely on good food and customer service to keep customers and succeed in a competitive industry." According to a food runner/busser resume, here's how food runner/bussers can utilize customer-service skills in their job responsibilities: "collaborated with servers to expedite food orders and meet customer satisfaction. "

Physical strength. food runner/bussers are also known for physical strength, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to food runner/busser responsibilities, because "food and beverage serving and related workers need to be able to lift and carry stock and equipment that can weigh up to 50 pounds." A food runner/busser resume example shows how physical strength is used in the workplace: "maintained the general cleanliness and upkeep of physical space. "

All food runner/busser skills

The three companies that hire the most food runner/bussers are:

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Compare different food runner/bussers

Food runner/busser vs. Crew member

Crew members assist in the overall daily operations of a business, including restaurants, hotels, resorts, and other industries needing a large workforce. Crew members' duties include attending on a customer's needs, processing payments, taking orders, and handling sanitation services. Crew members should have excellent time-management skills and ability to multi-task, especially for the fast-paced operations. They must also adhere to the safety standards and procedures as required by the business. Crew members should also report incidents and escalate concerns from the clients to the management as needed.

The annual salary of crew members is $369 higher than the average salary of food runner/bussers.While the two careers have a salary gap, they share some of the same responsibilities. Employees in both food runner/busser and crew member positions are skilled in cleanliness, excellent guest, and customer service.

There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, food runner/busser responsibilities require skills like "wine," "culinary," "water glasses," and "food delivery." Meanwhile a typical crew member has skills in areas such as "basic math," "english language," "safety standards," and "food products." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.

Crew members really shine in the retail industry with an average salary of $30,847. Comparatively, food runner/bussers tend to make the most money in the hospitality industry with an average salary of $28,816.crew members tend to reach similar levels of education than food runner/bussers. In fact, crew members are 0.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.0% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.

Food runner/busser vs. Cashier/host

A cashier/host is responsible for facilitating the cash register processes and managing financial transactions. Cashier/hosts process reservations and online payments, respond to customers' inquiries and concerns, escalate high-level complaints, update customer's account information on the database, and perform various administrative and clerical tasks as needed. They also create comprehensive financial reports for management's review, including recommendations on cost-efficient strategies to minimize the company's loss without compromising high-quality services. A cashier/host must be analytical and communicative to maintain smooth operations and achieve the highest customer satisfaction.

Cashier/host positions earn lower pay than food runner/busser roles. They earn a $3,996 lower salary than food runner/bussers per year.A few skills overlap for food runner/bussers and cashiers/host. Resumes from both professions show that the duties of each career rely on skills like "cleanliness," "excellent guest," and "customer service. "

While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that food runner/busser responsibilities requires skills like "wine," "culinary," "water glasses," and "food delivery." But a cashier/host might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "host," "reservations," "basic math," and "math."

On average, cashiers/host earn a lower salary than food runner/bussers. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, cashiers/host earn the most pay in the retail industry with an average salary of $29,494. Whereas food runner/bussers have higher pay in the hospitality industry, with an average salary of $28,816.In general, cashiers/host achieve similar levels of education than food runner/bussers. They're 0.2% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Food runner/busser vs. Crew trainer

A crew trainer is responsible for training new staff with the overall tasks to ensure the success of daily operations. Crew trainers' duties include serving customers efficiently, assisting customers with their needs and special requests, facilitating the distribution of tasks, monitoring staff performance, managing orders, and adhering to the sanitation standards and safety procedures. A crew trainer must have excellent time-management and leadership skills, as well as the ability to multi-task to perform various tasks with accuracy and efficiency.

On average, crew trainers earn higher salaries than food runner/bussers, with a $24,551 difference per year.Using the responsibilities included on food runner/bussers and crew trainers resumes, we found that both professions have similar skill requirements, such as "customer service," "food preparation," and "pos.rdquo;

Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from food runner/busser resumes include skills like "cleanliness," "wine," "excellent guest," and "culinary," whereas a crew trainer is more likely to list skills in "drive-thru," "role model," "safety standards," and "customer orders. "

Most crew trainers achieve a similar degree level compared to food runner/bussers. For example, they're 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Food runner/busser vs. Server and hostess

A server and hostess is an employee who plays the dual role of both a hostess and a server. As implied by this, a server and hostess is in-charge of welcoming guests as they enter the restaurant, ensuring that the guests' tables are ready before leading them to their assigned tables, handing over the menu, and waiting for the guests to finalize their order. Once the guests are ready to order, the server and hostess takes on the server role by bringing the guests' order to the kitchen, waiting for the food to be ready, and bringing the food to the guests' table.

Server and hostesses typically earn lower pay than food runner/bussers. On average, server and hostesses earn a $557 lower salary per year.While both food runner/bussers and server and hostesses complete day-to-day tasks using similar skills like customer service, fine dining, and food orders, the two careers vary in some skills.

Even though a few skill sets overlap between food runner/bussers and server and hostesses, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a food runner/busser might have more use for skills like "cleanliness," "wine," "excellent guest," and "culinary." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of server and hostesses require skills like "customer orders," "computer system," "customer complaints," and "bartending. "

In general, server and hostesses earn the most working in the hospitality industry, with an average salary of $26,585. The highest-paying industry for a food runner/busser is the hospitality industry.The average resume of server and hostesses showed that they earn similar levels of education compared to food runner/bussers. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 0.3% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 0.1%.

Types of food runner/busser

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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