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Restaurant Manager skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted Experts

Mandy Ulicney,

Amanda Gargano

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical restaurant manager skills. We ranked the top skills for restaurant managers based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 14.2% of restaurant manager resumes contained customer service as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a restaurant manager needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 restaurant manager skills for your resume and career

1. Customer Service

Customer service is the process of offering assistance to all the current and potential customers -- answering questions, fixing problems, and providing excellent service. The main goal of customer service is to build a strong relationship with the customers so that they keep coming back for more business.

Here's how restaurant managers use customer service:

Directed day-to-day operations involving financial management, revenue growth, and management of personnel in a top customer service atmosphere.
Established standards for personnel performance, employee evaluations, and overall restaurant presentation to provide excellent customer service and products.

2. Guest Satisfaction

Here's how restaurant managers use guest satisfaction:

Promoted guest satisfaction for steady repeat business through application of courtesy and problem solving skills to ensure optimal dining experience.
Designed and executed strategic sales and marketing campaigns that positively impacted revenues, profitability, and guest satisfaction.

3. Food Handling

Here's how restaurant managers use food handling:

Oversee daily operations while ensuring customer satisfaction by monitoring food handling requirements, and ensuring excellent customer relations.
Restructured the restaurant implementing new food handling and safety procedures under new ownership.

4. Cleanliness

Here's how restaurant managers use cleanliness:

Maintained building upkeep and cleanliness despite low maintenance budgets by continually shopping different parts vendors and maintenance providers.
Conducted ocular inspection within the facility to ensure cleanliness and compliance to proper closing procedures every night.

5. Restaurant Management

Here's how restaurant managers use restaurant management:

Qualified restaurant manager with 5+ years of professional experience in restaurant management and proven success in organizing tasks and managing services.
Communicated effectively in stressful situations and solved immediate problems with restaurant management, staff and guests.

6. Guest Service

Here's how restaurant managers use guest service:

Hold restaurant team accountable for consistently delivering excellent guest service and food quality in compliance with procedures and food safety requirements.
Monitored individual job performance; coached employees on areas of opportunity and provided recognition for outstanding guest service.

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7. Culinary

Here's how restaurant managers use culinary:

Adhered to quality expectations and standards, utilizing strong culinary knowledge to comfortably explain food preparations and terms.
Performed regular culinary shifts to increase knowledge of proper specifications, quality standards and proper plate presentations.

8. Restaurant Operations

Restaurant operations are various activities that are carried out in a restaurant to run the business. In other words, a restaurant operation encompasses the entire restaurant operation plan and includes all aspects of the day-to-day management of a restaurant. These operations include all activities related to food preparation, customer service, cleaning procedures, purchasing of raw materials, accounting, reporting, as well as food inventory and general maintenance of the restaurant environment.

Here's how restaurant managers use restaurant operations:

Demonstrated adaptability and flexibility while managing restaurant operations.
Managed general evening hotel restaurant operations

9. Wine

Here's how restaurant managers use wine:

Revamped temperature and non temperature controlled wine rooms to enhance efficiency and stability of wines.
Meet with Sales Representatives to conceptualize wine program and order necessary alcoholic beverages.

10. Customer Satisfaction

Here's how restaurant managers use customer satisfaction:

Consolidated and maintained stock of high use items during daily restaurant operation to ensure maximum reliability and customer satisfaction.
Provided leadership to restaurant team and guided day-to-day operations to achieve efficiency, profitability, and customer satisfaction goals.

11. Safety Standards

Here's how restaurant managers use safety standards:

Monitor safety and sanitation of restaurant through execution of food safety and restaurant safety standards.
Ensured equipment operated within safety standards and reported required replacements.

12. Exceptional Guest

Here's how restaurant managers use exceptional guest:

Focused on ensuring an exceptional guest experience.
Ensured exceptional guest and employee satisfaction through planning, training, and great communication.

13. Develop Team

Here's how restaurant managers use develop team:

Oversee the hiring, recruiting, training, mentoring, coaching, measurement and develop teams through performance management.
Guided employees to develop team building and customer service skills as well as stronger employee relations.

14. Food Service

The food service industry is a vast industry comprising of restaurants, caterers, cafeterias operating in institutions and any other business offering a meal not prepared at home. Foodservice operators require necessary utensils for preparing food for the consumers, foodservice distributors are the people who take care of this need for them.

Here's how restaurant managers use food service:

Directed twelve-member team in inventory, financial operations and material management of food service operations.
Cross-trained over several positions providing a full picture of food service management.

15. Basic Math

Here's how restaurant managers use basic math:

Truck orders Managing labor with percentages with basic mathematical skills.

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What skills help Restaurant Managers find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on Restaurant Manager resumes?

Mandy Ulicney

Associate Lecturer, Kent State University

In the hospitality industry people look for the intangibles. Everyone works, so that's great, but what else do they do? Do they volunteer? Do they coach a sport? Are they part of a community committee? Those types of things show the employer that they are service-minded, which goes a long way in our industry. Also, being bi-lingual is a big asset to many hospitality employers.

What soft skills should all Restaurant Managers possess?

Amanda Gargano

Professor, Cypress College, School of Culinary Arts & Hospitality Management

Soft skills are so important and desirable in all sectors, especially in Hospitality. We strive to teach our students the importance of accountability, personal responsibility, interpersonal relationships, and effective communication. We stress the importance of arriving early, behaving respectfully, working efficiently, and carrying themselves professionally.

What hard/technical skills are most important for Restaurant Managers?

Amanda Gargano

Professor, Cypress College, School of Culinary Arts & Hospitality Management

Required technical skills can sometimes be unique to the individual hotel or foodservice establishment. At Cypress College, our students learn basic and advanced technical skills required of their specific major: Culinary Arts, Baking & Pastry Arts, Hospitality Management, or Food & Beverage Management. Attainment of these hard skills, coupled with soft skills embedded within each program, help ensure that our students will emerge as leaders in the Hospitality industry.

What Restaurant Manager skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Dr. John C. Niser

Director, Fairleigh Dickinson University

The most important thing in these times is for students to realize that anything they do will be a testimony to their creativity, resilience, and grit. All these are highly desirable skills, once the business gets started again. Understanding the transferable skills and applying them to fields where there is employment is critical. This means being flexible geographically, as well as in terms of the economic sector. The one thing I would not recommend is doing nothing and/or just taking very low skill jobs. This is also a great time to complete graduate studies, as many reputable institutions are now offering online options.

What type of skills will young Restaurant Managers need?

Michelle Robinson

Director of Early Talent & Frontline, Sodexo North America

In order to succeed in the workforce in the coming years, young graduates will need a combination of skills. They will need to be service-oriented and possess a willingness to do what it takes in order to meet customer expectations attitude. Cultural intelligence/awareness to be able to relate to customers from different cultures will be critical, as will the ability to communicate clearly.

What technical skills for a Restaurant Manager stand out to employers?

Dr. Liza Cobos

Assistant Professor, Missouri State University

Employers are looking for transferable skills, skills like critical thinking and technical skills (i.e. excel) are in demand. Having the technical skills to analyze data and critical thinking skills to generate and provide solutions. The industry is always looking for ways to improve sales and pricing strategies to help the bottom line. Being able to demonstrate these skills will with career advancement.

Do you want to know more?

List of restaurant manager skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for a restaurant manager resume and required skills for a restaurant manager to have include:

Customer Service
Guest Satisfaction
Food Handling
Cleanliness
Restaurant Management
Guest Service
Culinary
Restaurant Operations
Wine
Customer Satisfaction
Safety Standards
Exceptional Guest
Develop Team
Food Service
Basic Math
Taking Care

Work Ethic
Fine Dining
Excellent Interpersonal
Cash Handling
Excellent Guest
POS
Performance Reviews
Strong Customer Service
Product Quality
Customer Complaints
FOH
Field Training
Inventory Control
Safety Regulations
Labor Costs
Guest Complaints

Math
Guest Relations
Staff Development
Good Judgment
Bank Deposits
House Training
Strong Analytical
Ongoing Development
BOH
Member Development
Sanitation Standards
Room Service
Inventory Management
Cash Control
Cash Management
Quality Guest

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

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