What does a hostess do?

Hostesses are responsible for managing guests who come to the restaurant. They greet guests, ensure that the guests have tables ready before letting them into the restaurant floor, guide the guests to their assigned tables, and introduce the guests to the waiter assigned to the table. Hostesses also manage the reservation list, often manning the restaurant's reservation hotline. They also control the entry of guests, answer any query that guests may have, and take note of any special requests. Hostesses ensure that guests have the best possible restaurant experience.
Hostess responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real hostess resumes:
- Assist guests in booking reservations and manage guest history data using OpenTable reservation system.
- Welcome guests upon arrival and provide seating arrangements base upon OpenTable reservations and guest preference.
- Greet by name and escort patrons to their personalize private dining area while coordinating reservations and exemplifying customer service
- Help bar back when need and learned minimal skills in bartending.
- Make managers aware of guests' special dining requirements and allergies.
- Set up and maintain continental breakfast buffet, hors d'oeuvres and VIP bar.
- Ensure that the requirements for all guests are meet; including small children, disabilities or food allergies.
- Host would coordinate servers and seating positions and interact with customers to make sure they enjoy their experience at the establishment.
- Host position involve influencing potential customers and instructing them on methods.
- Maintain legal obligations for responsible bartending by verification of legal age of all customers.
- Establish a positive relationship with co-workers and managers through a solid work ethic, positive attitude, punctuality and dependability.
- Order supplies for FOH and BOH for special events and weddings.
- Prepare restaurant foods per Chick-fil-A recipes and standards.
- Ensure the guests a pleasurable time at the establishment ..
- Assist customers so as to make their dining a pleasurable experience along with collection of fees.
Hostess skills and personality traits
We calculated that 49% of Hostesses are proficient in Reservations, Exceptional Guest, and Seat Guests. They’re also known for soft skills such as Physical strength, Communication skills, and Customer-service skills.
We break down the percentage of Hostesses that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Reservations, 49%
Greeted by name and escorted patrons to their personalized private dining area while coordinating reservations and exemplifying customer service
- Exceptional Guest, 9%
Displayed exceptional guest service skills to every patron visiting restaurant.
- Seat Guests, 4%
Job duties including clean tables, wash dishes, seat guests, wait on tables, and other miscellaneous kitchen duties.
- To-Go Orders, 4%
Demonstrated active listening and effective communication skills by answering telephone to provide information, and take to-go orders and make reservations.
- Bus Tables, 3%
Follow rotation of the servers, bus tables, take phone orders, run food and general help in the restaurant.
- Telephone Calls, 2%
Answered telephone calls for reservations in addition to preparing take-out and delivery orders.
Most hostesses use their skills in "reservations," "exceptional guest," and "seat guests" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential hostess responsibilities here:
Physical strength. One of the key soft skills for a hostess to have is physical strength. You can see how this relates to what hostesses do 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." Additionally, a hostess resume shows how hostesses use physical strength: "strengthened my communication skills through greeting guests and patrons as they entered the establishment. "
Communication skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling hostess duties is communication skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "food and beverage serving and related workers must listen to customers’ orders and relay them correctly to the kitchen staff so that the orders are prepared as requested." According to a hostess resume, here's how hostesses can utilize communication skills in their job responsibilities: "acquired fine dining etiquette and exceptional communication skills. "
Customer-service skills. This is an important skill for hostesses to perform their duties. For an example of how hostess responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "food service establishments rely on good food and customer service to keep customers and succeed in a competitive industry." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a hostess: "received guests and showed them to their tables, took initial drink orders and staffed the bar in a belgian restaurant. ".
Physical stamina. For certain hostess responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "physical stamina." The day-to-day duties of a hostess rely on this skill, as "food and beverage serving and related workers spend most of their shift doing physical tasks such as standing, carrying trays, and cleaning work areas." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what hostesses do: "seat guests according to rotation chart and physical needs. "
The three companies that hire the most hostesss are:
- Buffalo Wild Wings48 hostesses jobs
- Fogo de Chão22 hostesses jobs
- Pathway to Living
14 hostesses jobs
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Hostess vs. Fine dining server
Fine dining servers the people who make your stay at a restaurant enjoyable. They deliver well-written orders for the kitchen to prepare and bring your food and beverage. Being a fine dining server is no easy task, as certain skill sets need to be met in order to become an effective dining server. An efficient server is detail-oriented, observant to the needs of the diners, and intuitive. An extensive knowledge of wines and other specific food categories may be required depending on the restaurant.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between hostesses and fine dining server. For instance, hostess responsibilities require skills such as "reservations," "seat guests," "to-go orders," and "bus tables." Whereas a fine dining server is skilled in "wine," "cleanliness," "beverage orders," and "strong customer service." This is part of what separates the two careers.
On average, fine dining servers reach similar levels of education than hostesses. Fine dining servers are 1.8% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Hostess vs. Server
A server is a restaurant employee assigned to the main dining area of the restaurant to primarily attend to the customer's needs. Servers assist guests to their tables, wait for the guests to be ready with their orders, and take the guests' orders. They should be knowledgeable about the restaurant's offerings since they should be able to answer any questions asked by the guests regarding the menu. They communicate the guests' orders to the kitchen crew and serve the orders once they are ready. Once the guests are finished eating, servers provide their bills upon their request and clean up the table when they leave. Servers should have excellent customer service skills and hospitality management skills.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, hostess responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "reservations," "ensure cleanliness," "front desk," and "floor plan." Meanwhile, a server has duties that require skills in areas such as "wine," "cleanliness," "cash handling," and "english language." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Servers may earn a higher salary than hostesses, but servers earn the most pay in the hospitality industry with an average salary of $28,027. On the other hand, hostesses receive higher pay in the hospitality industry, where they earn an average salary of $26,739.servers earn similar levels of education than hostesses in general. They're 0.5% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Hostess vs. Room service server
A room service server is an employee employed in a hotel or lodging to provide various services to the room occupants in the hotel. They often deliver ordered food, drinks, or movies to the occupants' rooms. Their duties and responsibilities include delivery of ordered foods or drinks, taking orders, collecting dirty dishes from rooms, and maintaining supplies and orders.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from hostess resumes include skills like "reservations," "seat guests," "to-go orders," and "bus tables," whereas a room service server is more likely to list skills in "guest rooms," "beverage orders," "in-room," and "cash handling. "
Room service servers make a very good living in the hospitality industry with an average annual salary of $26,687. On the other hand, hostesses are paid the highest salary in the hospitality industry, with average annual pay of $26,739.Most room service servers achieve a similar degree level compared to hostesses. For example, they're 0.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Hostess vs. Dining room server
A dining room server performs various tasks to give patrons a positive dining experience. Their job usually entails greeting customers and presenting the menu, taking their orders, answering inquiries, recommending products and other services, serving drinks and food, and handling concerns professionally and courteously. They are also responsible for coordinating with cashiers and kitchen staff, cleaning and preparing tables for new customers, and assisting staff as needed. In some establishments, a dining room server may also participate in preparing drinks or ingredients, monitoring supply inventories, and collecting payments.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between hostesses and dining room servers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a hostess might have more use for skills like "reservations," "seat guests," "to-go orders," and "telephone calls." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of dining room servers require skills like "food service," "cleanliness," "wine," and "beverage orders. "
The hospitality industry tends to pay the highest salaries for dining room servers, with average annual pay of $29,758. Comparatively, the highest hostess annual salary comes from the hospitality industry.The average resume of dining room servers showed that they earn similar levels of education compared to hostesses. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 0.4% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 0.1%.Types of hostess
Updated January 8, 2025











