Restaurant associate vs restaurant server

The differences between restaurant associates and restaurant servers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a restaurant associate has an average salary of $29,195, which is higher than the $24,558 average annual salary of a restaurant server.

The top three skills for a restaurant associate include food service, customer service and customer orders. The most important skills for a restaurant server are wine, exceptional dining, and guest satisfaction.

Restaurant associate vs restaurant server overview

	Restaurant Associate	Restaurant Server
Yearly salary	$29,195	$24,558
Hourly rate	$14.04	$11.81
Growth rate	14%	10%
Number of jobs	64,419	141,250
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 37%	Bachelor's Degree, 48%
Average age	37	28
Years of experience	-	-

What does a restaurant associate do?

A restaurant associate is responsible for ensuring that the guests receive the highest satisfaction for their dining experience. Restaurant associates entertain and greet guests, assist the dining staff in processing orders, respond to inquiries and concerns, and escalate complaints to the supervisor. They also help management in identifying opportunities that would attract customers by researching current industry trends to develop additional services for generating more revenues. A restaurant associate monitors the stock inventory, create purchase requests, and negotiate with trusted suppliers.

What does a restaurant server do?

Also called food servers, restaurant servers perform food preparation, cleaning duties, and customer service in casual dining eateries and restaurants. The food servers stock supplies, handle credit cards and the cash register, and clean restaurant counters and tables. They provide assistance to restaurant patrons to take orders, deliver food, and answer customer questions. The skills they need include trustworthiness, organization, customer relations, and communication skills.

Restaurant associate vs restaurant server salary

Restaurant associates and restaurant servers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Restaurant Associate	Restaurant Server
Average salary	$29,195	$24,558
Salary range	Between $22,000 And $37,000	Between $15,000 And $37,000
Highest paying City	-	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	-	California
Best paying company	-	University of California, Berkeley
Best paying industry	-	Agriculture

Differences between restaurant associate and restaurant server education

There are a few differences between a restaurant associate and a restaurant server in terms of educational background:

	Restaurant Associate	Restaurant Server
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 37%	Bachelor's Degree, 48%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Restaurant associate vs restaurant server demographics

Here are the differences between restaurant associates' and restaurant servers' demographics:

	Restaurant Associate	Restaurant Server
Average age	37	28
Gender ratio	Male, 49.2% Female, 50.8%	Male, 40.8% Female, 59.2%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 11.1% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 21.5% Asian, 6.6% White, 54.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%	Black or African American, 10.9% Unknown, 5.7% Hispanic or Latino, 20.9% Asian, 9.4% White, 52.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage	10%	6%

Differences between restaurant associate and restaurant server duties and responsibilities

Restaurant associate example responsibilities.

Manage staff by teaching them the correct procedures along with making sure they are working up to Marriott standards.
Uphold professional image, including restaurant cleanliness and appearance standards.
Develop ability to communicate to a variety of personalities of guests and employees while serving culinary indulgences
Review and evaluate HACCP documents, create corrective action documentation for HACCP errors.
Cut and chop food items and cook on a grill or in fryers.

Restaurant server example responsibilities.

Demonstrate adequate culinary and Italian wine knowledge through suggestive selling.
Input orders in micros and issue guest check for each order.
Prepare the groceries for the customer in their request baggage handing.3.
Maintain clean, sanitize FOH area and ensure health & safety and hygiene procedures and standards are meet.
Work with operations manager in ordering and setting up all FOH systems need in opening a new restaurant.
Provide thorough knowledge of the restaurant's menu to make recommendations or answer questions, and enter POS charges.

Restaurant associate vs restaurant server skills

Common restaurant associate skills

Food Service, 43%
Customer Service, 18%
Customer Orders, 17%
Food Handling, 10%
Cleanliness, 5%
Customer Complaints, 3%

Common restaurant server skills

Wine, 28%
Exceptional Dining, 6%
Guest Satisfaction, 5%
Cleanliness, 5%
POS, 5%
Food Service, 5%

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Restaurant Associate
Restaurant Associate vs Restaurant Server

Updated January 8, 2025

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