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.
Informal waiter/waitress responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real informal waiter/waitress resumes:
- 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.
- Operate large volume cooking equipment like buger grills, fryers, and/or griddles.
Informal waiter/waitress skills and personality traits
We calculated that 48% of Informal Waiter/Waitresses are proficient in Beverage Orders, Waiter, and Customer Service. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Customer-service skills, and Detail oriented.
We break down the percentage of Informal Waiter/Waitresses that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Beverage Orders, 48%
Greet customers, seat customers, take customers food and beverage order, deliver food and beverage orders, cash out customers
- Waiter, 18%
Job Description: At Luby's my job was your basic waiter.
- Customer Service, 12%
Provided excellent customer service to restaurant customers.
- Food Service, 9%
Promoted to Food Service Manager.
- Fine Dining, 3%
Created an exceptional fine dining experience for all guests and maintained exceptional hospitality etiquette in all situations.
- Wine, 2%
Stock all beer, wine, liquor and kegs required for shift.
Common skills that an informal waiter/waitress uses to do their job include "beverage orders," "waiter," and "customer service." You can find details on the most important informal waiter/waitress responsibilities below.
Communication skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for an informal waiter/waitress to have is communication skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "waiters and waitresses must listen to customers, ask questions as needed, and relay information to the kitchen staff so that orders are prepared to the customers’ satisfaction." Informal waiter/waitresses often use communication skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "used computers to enter, access or retrieve data, resolve customer complaints and used oral and written communication techniques. "
Customer-service skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling informal waiter/waitress duties is customer-service skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "waiters and waitresses are frontline workers for their restaurant." According to an informal waiter/waitress resume, here's how informal waiter/waitresses can utilize customer-service skills in their job responsibilities: "provide quality guest service expertly serve goods and beverages develop customer relations answer customer's questions excel in fast-paced environment"
Detail oriented. This is an important skill for informal waiter/waitresses to perform their duties. For an example of how informal waiter/waitress responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "waiters and waitresses must record customers’ orders accurately." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of an informal waiter/waitress: "learned a new computer system within an hour, by listening and following directions and paying attention to detail. ".
Physical strength. A big part of what informal waiter/waitresses do relies on "physical strength." You can see how essential it is to informal waiter/waitress responsibilities because "waiters and waitresses need to be able to lift and carry trays of food or other items." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical informal waiter/waitress tasks: "strengthened and established management skills by resolving customer complaints. "
The three companies that hire the most informal waiter/waitresss are:
- Compass Group USA69 informal waiter/waitresses jobs
- Red Robin35 informal waiter/waitresses jobs
- Brandywine Living3 informal waiter/waitresses jobs
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Compare different informal waiter/waitresses
Informal waiter/waitress vs. Food runner
Food Runners are responsible for assisting waitstaff on serving customers at a restaurant or similar establishment. Among their duties include maintaining cleanliness in particular areas, setting tables, refilling drinks, assisting customers with everything that they need, and coordinating with the workforce in and out of the kitchen. Furthermore, Food Runners need to ensure that all deliveries are accurate according to what is ordered by a customer. It is essential to stay presentable and helpful at all times as the main priority is customer satisfaction.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between informal waiter/waitresses and food runner. For instance, informal waiter/waitress responsibilities require skills such as "waiter," "check-in," "food safety," and "retrieve data." Whereas a food runner is skilled in "cleanliness," "culinary," "food handling," and "excellent guest." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Food runners tend to make the most money working in the hospitality industry, where they earn an average salary of $26,747. In contrast, informal waiter/waitresses make the biggest average salary, $27,918, in the hospitality industry.food runners tend to reach similar levels of education than informal waiter/waitresses. In fact, food runners are 0.4% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Informal waiter/waitress 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.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real informal waiter/waitress resumes. While informal waiter/waitress responsibilities can utilize skills like "waiter," "check-in," "food safety," and "food preparation," servers use skills like "cleanliness," "cash handling," "english language," and "exceptional dining."
On average, servers earn a higher salary than informal waiter/waitresses. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, servers earn the most pay in the hospitality industry with an average salary of $28,027. Whereas informal waiter/waitresses have higher pay in the hospitality industry, with an average salary of $27,918.In general, servers achieve similar levels of education than informal waiter/waitresses. They're 1.1% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Informal waiter/waitress vs. Server manager
As the name entails, server managers are responsible for managing and overseeing the serving areas in restaurants. This role is associated with several tasks, including checking the appearance of servers, checking a server's knowledge of the restaurant's daily specials and menu items, and greeting the customers. Additional tasks may include assisting new serving crews and evaluating their self-reliance and capabilities, managing the schedule of servers, and organizing staff training. The skills needed for this position may include excellent customer service skills, leadership skills, and communication skills.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from informal waiter/waitress resumes include skills like "waiter," "food service," "check-in," and "wine," whereas a server manager is more likely to list skills in "payroll," "windows," "guest service," and "new servers. "
Most server managers achieve a similar degree level compared to informal waiter/waitresses. For example, they're 2.8% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.3% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Informal waiter/waitress vs. Customer service and serving
Even though a few skill sets overlap between informal waiter/waitresses and customer service and servings, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, an informal waiter/waitress might have more use for skills like "waiter," "check-in," "wine," and "food safety." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of customer service and servings require skills like "strong customer service," "quality customer service," "professional attitude," and "new servers. "
The average resume of customer service and servings showed that they earn similar levels of education compared to informal waiter/waitresses. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 1.9% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 0.1%.Types of informal waiter/waitress
Updated January 8, 2025
