Food service supervisor vs restaurant manager

The differences between food service supervisors and restaurant 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 supervisor and a restaurant manager. Additionally, a restaurant manager has an average salary of $52,202, which is higher than the $32,763 average annual salary of a food service supervisor.

The top three skills for a food service supervisor include good judgment, safety practices and food production. The most important skills for a restaurant manager are customer service, guest satisfaction, and food handling.

Food service supervisor vs restaurant manager overview

	Food Service Supervisor	Restaurant Manager
Yearly salary	$32,763	$52,202
Hourly rate	$15.75	$25.10
Growth rate	10%	10%
Number of jobs	139,403	225,340
Job satisfaction	-	1
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 36%	Bachelor's Degree, 50%
Average age	39	39
Years of experience	4	4

What does a food service supervisor do?

A Food Service Supervisor oversees employees engaged in serving food. They establish quality standards for foods and keep facilities clean in accordance with state and local regulations.

What does a restaurant manager do?

A restaurant manager is responsible for handling the overall restaurant operations. These include monitoring revenues and daily restaurant sales, checking inventories and supplies, negotiating with third-party vendors, and managing customers' inquiries and complaints. Other duties include creating promotional offers, developing and improving sales strategies, organizing staff duties, maintaining the highest sanitary standards for everyone's strict compliance, and controlling operational expenses. A restaurant manager must have excellent communication and leadership skills and exceptional knowledge of food industry management.

Food service supervisor vs restaurant manager salary

Food service supervisors and restaurant managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Food Service Supervisor	Restaurant Manager
Average salary	$32,763	$52,202
Salary range	Between $25,000 And $41,000	Between $39,000 And $69,000
Highest paying City	Boston, MA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Minnesota	New Hampshire
Best paying company	Ncar - The National Center For Atmospheric Research	Hillstone Restaurant Group
Best paying industry	Health Care	Hospitality

Differences between food service supervisor and restaurant manager education

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

	Food Service Supervisor	Restaurant Manager
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 36%	Bachelor's Degree, 50%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Cornell University	Cornell University

Food service supervisor vs restaurant manager demographics

Here are the differences between food service supervisors' and restaurant managers' demographics:

	Food Service Supervisor	Restaurant Manager
Average age	39	39
Gender ratio	Male, 43.2% Female, 56.8%	Male, 54.5% Female, 45.5%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 12.3% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 16.1% Asian, 8.5% White, 57.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%	Black or African American, 10.6% Unknown, 5.5% Hispanic or Latino, 17.9% Asian, 9.4% White, 55.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	10%	10%

Differences between food service supervisor and restaurant manager duties and responsibilities

Food service supervisor example responsibilities.

Manage inventory, ordering and delivery of groceries.
Icomply to all HACCP standards and is ServSafe certify.
Compile staff schedules, prepare money for cash drops, operate register and POS.
Perform culinary decision making as it pertain to food inventory, menus, and production methods.
Facilitate training on production equipment and GMP's travele to multiple sites with employees to complete training.
Monitor and document HACCP sanitation standards.

Restaurant manager example responsibilities.

Manage staff by teaching them the correct procedures along with making sure they are working up to Marriott standards.
Manage associates while bartending and serving in a family-own restaurant.
Coordinate, communicate and delegate FOH responsibilities to staff to ensure excellent operations are consistently achieve.
Maintain corporate accounts on QuickBooks.
Master QuickBooks to track company expenses and revenue.
Supervise and train dining and in-room dining staff.

Food service supervisor vs restaurant manager skills

Common food service supervisor skills

Good Judgment, 15%
Safety Practices, 11%
Food Production, 10%
Customer Service, 8%
Food Handling, 8%
Patients, 7%

Common restaurant manager skills

Customer Service, 14%
Guest Satisfaction, 7%
Food Handling, 7%
Cleanliness, 6%
Restaurant Management, 5%
Guest Service, 5%

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Food Service Supervisor
Food Service Supervisor vs Restaurant Manager

Updated January 8, 2025

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