Informal waiter/waitress vs bartender, cook, and waitress

The differences between informal waiter/waitresses and bartender, cook, and waitresses can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a bartender, cook, and waitress has an average salary of $27,827, which is higher than the $24,354 average annual salary of an informal waiter/waitress.

The top three skills for an informal waiter/waitress include beverage orders, waiter and customer service. The most important skills for a bartender, cook, and waitress are food orders, customer orders, and bartending.

Informal waiter/waitress vs bartender, cook, and waitress overview

	Informal Waiter/Waitress	Bartender, Cook, And Waitress
Yearly salary	$24,354	$27,827
Hourly rate	$11.71	$13.38
Growth rate	10%	10%
Number of jobs	3,660	162,319
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 40%	High School Diploma, 42%
Average age	28	28
Years of experience	-	-

What does an informal waiter/waitress do?

An informal waiter/waitress is primarily in charge of serving patrons in coffee shops, fast-food chains, and other similar dining establishments, ensuring efficiency and customer satisfaction. Their responsibilities revolve around coordinating with kitchen and management staff, greeting and welcoming customers, providing menus and answering inquiries, offering suggestions, and serving the customers' orders promptly and accurately. They may also process payments or provide other assistance as needed. Furthermore, an informal waiter/waitress must maintain the cleanliness of tables and workspaces, ensuring a safe and healthy environment for everyone.

What does a bartender, cook, and waitress do?

A bartender, cook, and waitress are employees who work in the food services industry and usually deal with customer orders and food preparations. Bartenders usually prepare alcoholic or non-alcoholic drinks for bar and restaurant patrons and assess the customers' needs. On the other hand, cooks assist chefs in the preparation of food and manage food stations when needed. Lastly, waitresses interact with restaurant customers by taking food orders and serving them appropriately to the customers.

Informal waiter/waitress vs bartender, cook, and waitress salary

Informal waiter/waitresses and bartender, cook, and waitresses have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Informal Waiter/Waitress	Bartender, Cook, And Waitress
Average salary	$24,354	$27,827
Salary range	Between $16,000 And $36,000	Between $21,000 And $35,000
Highest paying City	Saratoga Springs, NY	-
Highest paying state	New York	-
Best paying company	Aspen Snowmass	-
Best paying industry	Hospitality	-

Differences between informal waiter/waitress and bartender, cook, and waitress education

There are a few differences between an informal waiter/waitress and a bartender, cook, and waitress in terms of educational background:

	Informal Waiter/Waitress	Bartender, Cook, And Waitress
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 40%	High School Diploma, 42%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Informal waiter/waitress vs bartender, cook, and waitress demographics

Here are the differences between informal waiter/waitresses' and bartender, cook, and waitresses' demographics:

	Informal Waiter/Waitress	Bartender, Cook, And Waitress
Average age	28	28
Gender ratio	Male, 23.3% Female, 76.7%	Male, 5.4% Female, 94.6%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 11.8% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 18.8% Asian, 8.7% White, 54.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%	Black or African American, 10.4% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 13.8% Asian, 7.8% White, 62.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between informal waiter/waitress and bartender, cook, and waitress duties and responsibilities

Informal waiter/waitress example responsibilities.

Train in bartending duties, knowledgeable of preparation of alcoholic beverages.
Request and record customer orders, and totale orders using the POS system.
Help bartending when staff are short.
Fix POS computers, printers, and credit card systems above and beyond job responsibilities.
Start as a busboy and are quickly promote to a waiter when a spot are made available.
Develop relationships with regular patrons; develop an understanding of their personal needs and expectations, including preferences and food allergies.

Bartender, cook, and waitress example responsibilities.

General cleaning, and knowledge of POS systems.
Start off here as a cook, learned to bartend.
Operate a POS system to itemize and complete a customer purchases.
Develop relationships with regular patrons; develop an understanding of their personal needs and expectations, including preferences and food allergies.
Cook waitresses cashier hostess prep cook dishwasher
Generate detail checks utilizing micros systems.

Informal waiter/waitress vs bartender, cook, and waitress skills

Common informal waiter/waitress skills

Beverage Orders, 48%
Waiter, 18%
Customer Service, 12%
Food Service, 9%
Fine Dining, 3%
Wine, 2%

Common bartender, cook, and waitress skills

Food Orders, 16%
Customer Orders, 13%
Bartending, 8%
Food Preparation, 7%
Customer Service, 6%
Drink Orders, 5%

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Food Preparation and Restaurant Industry
Informal Waiter/Waitress
Informal Waiter/Waitress vs Bartender, Cook, And Waitress

Updated January 8, 2025

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