Food service director vs bar manager

The differences between food service directors and bar managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a food service director and a bar manager. Additionally, a food service director has an average salary of $53,939, which is higher than the $46,828 average annual salary of a bar manager.

The top three skills for a food service director include customer service, culinary and servsafe. The most important skills for a bar manager are customer service, wine, and beverage orders.

Food service director vs bar manager overview

	Food Service Director	Bar Manager
Yearly salary	$53,939	$46,828
Hourly rate	$25.93	$22.51
Growth rate	10%	10%
Number of jobs	136,337	165,633
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 48%	Bachelor's Degree, 50%
Average age	39	39
Years of experience	4	4

What does a food service director do?

A food service director is responsible for managing the foodservice operations, achieving the customers' highest satisfaction by supervising the kitchen personnel, monitoring the food distribution, and responding to the guests' inquiries and concerns. Foodservice directors manage the food inventories, ensuring the adequacy of all the ingredients and materials, and keeping the storage safe and clean all the time by enforcing strict sanitary and hygienic procedures. A food service director must be updated with the current food industry trends to update the menu regularly and meet the guests' demands.

What does a bar manager do?

Bar managers are also called bar owners or supervisors of bar establishments. The managers are in charge of managing customer complaints, ensuring stocks in the bar, and in scheduling the jobs of employees. They oversee the overall operations of the bar, manage its staff, and ensure that the standards of products and services are met. They maintain the licensure of liquor and make sure that their staff follows the local regulations. Also, they see to it that customers are served promptly.

Food service director vs bar manager salary

Food service directors and bar managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Food Service Director	Bar Manager
Average salary	$53,939	$46,828
Salary range	Between $35,000 And $82,000	Between $33,000 And $65,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Greenwich, CT
Highest paying state	California	New Jersey
Best paying company	Baptist Health Care	Greenwich Country Club
Best paying industry	Health Care	Government

Differences between food service director and bar manager education

There are a few differences between a food service director and a bar manager in terms of educational background:

	Food Service Director	Bar Manager
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 48%	Bachelor's Degree, 50%
Most common major	Culinary Arts	Business
Most common college	Cornell University	Cornell University

Food service director vs bar manager demographics

Here are the differences between food service directors' and bar managers' demographics:

	Food Service Director	Bar Manager
Average age	39	39
Gender ratio	Male, 58.1% Female, 41.9%	Male, 56.0% Female, 44.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.8% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 15.4% Asian, 7.3% White, 60.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 10.7% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.0% Asian, 7.9% White, 60.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	10%	10%

Differences between food service director and bar manager duties and responsibilities

Food service director example responsibilities.

Train and manage countless dishwashers, cooks, servers, and other managers to achieve significant improvements in their productivity.
Manage both front of the house (FOH) and back of the house (BOH) operations.
Manage a team of 12 managers and 160 FTE.
Achieve highest level of compliance with CMS and Steritech audits.
Manage departmental budget and payroll for 111 FTE's, service and production of ~ 1200 meals/day.
Manage food services at 142 bed sub-acute rehabilitation and skil nursing facility with a staff of 43 FTE's.

Show more

Bar manager example responsibilities.

Manage liquor and wine inventory and develop cocktail menus taking advantage of fresh ingredients.
Inventory and order bar stock and manage FOH staff, as well as ensured food quality and timeliness of service.
Manage front-of-house operations for upscale wine bar and restaurant, including assisting in monitoring and management of inventory and finances.
Perform typical bartending duties including all aspects of customer service.
Direct all bartending operations as well as ordering and inventory management.
Help with shift movement according seniority while abiding by the bartender and culinary CBA.

Show more

Food service director vs bar manager skills

Common food service director skills

Customer Service, 13%
Culinary, 9%
ServSafe, 8%
Food Preparation, 6%
Good Judgment, 5%
Cost Control, 4%

Common bar manager skills

Customer Service, 21%
Wine, 17%
Beverage Orders, 7%
Bartending, 5%
Payroll, 5%
POS, 5%

Food Service Director vs. similar jobs

Food Service Director related careers

Food Service Director related jobs

What similar roles do

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse executive management jobs

A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z