What does a food service attendant do?
A Food Service Attendant works in various establishments such as hotels, cafeterias, and bars to deal with service, meal preparation, and food handling. They work under the control of a kitchen manager or food service director and deliver their services all days of the week. Their primary duties include taking delivery orders and answering customer phones, and assisting wait staff and cashiers in collecting money. Moreover, they respond to customer queries and making menu suggestions. Also, they clean workplaces, follow meal safety guidelines and prepare food and drinks.
Food service attendant responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real food service attendant resumes:
- Process payment transactions on a POS system.
- Wait on customers, take orders, run cash register, help prepare food on grill and deep fryer.
- Follow established procedures and standards for cleanliness to ensure a healthy and safe environment
- Learned to cook and pre pare pizza, learned to make drinks associate with Starbucks
- Create Facebook and other social media accounts for athletes and business owners to promote their upcoming activities or increase sales.
Food service attendant skills and personality traits
We calculated that 29% of Food Service Attendants are proficient in Food Handling, Patients, and Customer Service. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Customer-service skills, and Physical strength.
We break down the percentage of Food Service Attendants that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Food Handling, 29%
Maintained all food service areas in an orderly state to ensure standards were met with safe food handling procedures.
- Patients, 13%
Time management while delivering patients orders and providing exceptional customer service in a fast paced environment.
- Customer Service, 9%
Collaborated closely with fellow team members to consistently deliver on company standards and high levels of customer service.
- Cash Handling, 8%
Comply with all park policies to include cash handling policy, food safety standards, alcohol service policy and grooming requirements.
- Basic Math, 5%
Job also requires the ability to understand basic math skills in order to figure amounts of product needed for meal portions.
- Guest Service, 4%
Provide excellent guest service while preparing orders and handling sales transactions at quick service restaurants, carts and snack stands.
Common skills that a food service attendant uses to do their job include "food handling," "patients," and "customer service." You can find details on the most important food service attendant responsibilities below.
Communication skills. One of the key soft skills for a food service attendant to have is communication skills. You can see how this relates to what food service attendants do because "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." Additionally, a food service attendant resume shows how food service attendants use communication skills: "provided clear communication with vendors, staff members, and guests to represent excellent customer service on a daily basis. "
Customer-service skills. Many food service attendant duties rely on customer-service skills. "food service establishments rely on good food and customer service to keep customers and succeed in a competitive industry," so a food service attendant will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways food service attendant responsibilities rely on customer-service skills: "obtained food and drink orders from customers at a courteous and prompt time. "
Physical strength. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of food service attendants is physical strength. This skill is critical to many everyday food service attendant duties, as "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." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "assist in the periodic physical inventory of food products customer service"
The three companies that hire the most food service attendants are:
- Marriott International34 food service attendants jobs
- UPMC32 food service attendants jobs
- St. Joseph's Health22 food service attendants jobs
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Compare different food service attendants
Food service attendant vs. Fast food cashier
The primary duty of a food prep is to accomplish various food handling and preparation tasks according to the direction of supervisors, chefs, or cooks. One can work in different establishments or industry where there is food involved. Among the responsibilities will mostly revolve around doing light to moderate chores such as cleaning the kitchen and sanitizing utensils, preparing the required ingredients and ensure its quality and quantity, be in charge of food storage, and assist by performing basic cooking tasks.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between food service attendants and fast food cashier. For instance, food service attendant responsibilities require skills such as "food handling," "patients," "guest service," and "haccp." Whereas a fast food cashier is skilled in "customer satisfaction," "food service," "groceries," and "food court." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Fast food cashiers tend to reach similar levels of education than food service attendants. In fact, fast food cashiers are 0.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Food service attendant vs. Food prep
A food preparer or food preparation worker is the person who executes routine tasks under the supervision of chefs, food service managers, and cooks. Food preparation workers slice meat, cut vegetables, and prepare cold foods. They prepare ingredients of food for recipes as they assist cooks and chefs. Their duties and responsibilities include sifting, marinating, food safety, grating, and knife skills. They are also expected to weigh and measure dry and liquid ingredients.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that food service attendant responsibilities requires skills like "patients," "basic math," "guest service," and "haccp." But a food prep might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "food service," "taking care," "good communication," and "dexterity."
Food preps earn a higher average salary than food service attendants. But food preps earn the highest pay in the retail industry, with an average salary of $28,945. Additionally, food service attendants earn the highest salaries in the media with average pay of $27,152 annually.In general, food preps achieve similar levels of education than food service attendants. They're 0.5% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Food service attendant vs. Food preparer
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a food service attendant is likely to be skilled in "patients," "cash handling," "guest service," and "haccp," while a typical food preparer is skilled in "work ethic," "strong work ethic," "food service," and "beverage products."
Food preparers earn the best pay in the retail industry, where they command an average salary of $29,828. Food service attendants earn the highest pay from the media industry, with an average salary of $27,152.Most food preparers achieve a similar degree level compared to food service attendants. For example, they're 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Food service attendant vs. Food handler
Types of food service attendant
Updated January 8, 2025
