Restaurant servers attend to guests at dining establishments, serving them food and beverages. They seat customers, inform them about specials, and answer questions about the menu. They take their orders and deliver the meals to their tables. Very much like waiters, which is the less fancy term for restaurant servers.
Being polite and patient is essential in any profession dealing with customers, and this applies to restaurant servers just the same. They communicate with kitchen staff as well, which is no less of a feat, and contribute to keeping the establishment clean and safe. Taking payment and dealing with customer complaints is also their duty.
A high school diploma will suffice to get you started on the job. Being energetic and positive, thriving in a teamwork atmosphere, and performing well under pressure will be what really matters. You will have to be fast and on your feet during your entire shift, though, so physical stamina is also essential.
What is a Restaurant Server?
What Does a Restaurant Server Do
There are certain skills that many restaurant servers have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed detail oriented, communication skills and customer-service skills.
How To Become a Restaurant Server
If you're interested in becoming a restaurant server, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 48.3% of restaurant servers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 3.0% of restaurant servers have master's degrees. Even though most restaurant servers have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Restaurant Server Career Paths
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of warehouse worker you might progress to a role such as technician eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title general manager.
Average Salary for a Restaurant Server
What Am I Worth?
Roles and Types of Restaurant Server
The role of a restaurant server includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general restaurant server responsibilities:
- Reports to property on time and in proper uniform. Checks with manager for assigned dining room station, opening side work,
- Adhere to company policy and state
- Serve high quality, hot, fresh food in a timely
There are several types of restaurant server, including:
Server
Role:
Be our guest! Sure, server's don't typically sing Disney songs to their customers but they do make sure customers get their food as soon as it's ready.
Once you've been serving for awhile, you may be able to impress your guests with taking their food order without writing the orders down. As long as you get the entire order correct, this may score you a nice tip.
Not everyone is going to enjoy their dining experience though, and whether it's your fault or the chef's fault, it is your responsibility to correct any problems. Don't worry, you can go yell at the chef later.
- Average Salary: $29,901
- Degree: Bachelor's Degree
Waitress
Role:
Waitresses take food and beverage orders, typically in dining establishments. You don't need a lot of formal education to be a waitress, but you'll receive some on-the-job training. If you want to secure a lot of tips, you may want to brush up on your customer service.
Some waitresses depend on a notepad to make sure the orders come out right, fewer waitresses are able to memorize everyone's order. Even if the waitresses jotted down or memorized the order perfectly if there is a mistake with the food, they're the first to blame.
As a waitress, you'll probably have to deal with a lot of "hangry" people but, hopefully, once they've eaten, they'll be in a much better mood and leave a nice tip. There will undoubtedly be times that you have to deal with difficult customers, it's those days that make this job stressful.
- Average Salary: $24,770
- Degree: High School Diploma
Hostess
Role:
When you first enter a restaurant or other dining facility, you'll most likely be greeted by a hostess. As a hostess, you get the pleasure of telling "hangry" people that they have to wait 2 hours for their table to be ready. Sounds fun, right?
Well, actually being a hostess can be enjoyable. It's kind of like playing Tetris. You have to be able to figure out where to seat customers. Sometimes you may also have to answer phone calls regarding questions about the menu or to take reservations (because who has time for a 2-hour wait?).
Hostesses work odd hours, some work early mornings and others work late evenings. Uou definitely shouldn't be surprised about working a weekend shift. I mean people still eat on the weekends; probably moreso than they do during the week.
- Average Salary: $26,298
- Degree: High School Diploma
States With The Most Restaurant Server Jobs
Mouse over a state to see the number of active restaurant server jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where restaurant servers earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.
Number Of Restaurant Server Jobs By State
| Rank | State | Number of Jobs | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Texas | 4,515 | $24,808 |
| 2 | California | 4,356 | $32,428 |
| 3 | Florida | 3,955 | $22,198 |
| 4 | Ohio | 1,911 | $20,914 |
| 5 | Illinois | 1,868 | $22,191 |
| 6 | Pennsylvania | 1,839 | $22,155 |
| 7 | Georgia | 1,718 | $22,716 |
| 8 | Virginia | 1,699 | $25,362 |
| 9 | North Carolina | 1,546 | $20,617 |
| 10 | New York | 1,472 | $26,875 |
| 11 | Michigan | 1,439 | $21,150 |
| 12 | Colorado | 1,309 | $26,113 |
| 13 | Tennessee | 1,146 | $21,711 |
| 14 | Indiana | 1,144 | $22,096 |
| 15 | Arizona | 1,116 | $26,754 |
| 16 | New Jersey | 1,012 | $26,651 |
| 17 | Maryland | 1,000 | $28,436 |
| 18 | Missouri | 990 | $25,792 |
| 19 | Washington | 884 | $30,709 |
| 20 | South Carolina | 870 | $19,998 |
| 21 | Alabama | 834 | $19,668 |
| 22 | Wisconsin | 806 | $18,177 |
| 23 | Massachusetts | 779 | $30,647 |
| 24 | Kentucky | 725 | $22,193 |
| 25 | Minnesota | 723 | $26,018 |
| 26 | Oklahoma | 576 | $18,502 |
| 27 | Iowa | 540 | $20,937 |
| 28 | Louisiana | 489 | $19,523 |
| 29 | Utah | 474 | $20,857 |
| 30 | Oregon | 469 | $28,619 |
| 31 | Kansas | 446 | $23,304 |
| 32 | Nevada | 417 | $21,375 |
| 33 | Arkansas | 415 | $20,912 |
| 34 | Connecticut | 397 | $28,753 |
| 35 | Mississippi | 348 | $19,040 |
| 36 | West Virginia | 329 | $22,432 |
| 37 | Idaho | 243 | $22,084 |
| 38 | Nebraska | 230 | $20,384 |
| 39 | New Mexico | 224 | $22,308 |
| 40 | New Hampshire | 222 | $23,231 |
| 41 | Delaware | 196 | $24,662 |
| 42 | Montana | 165 | $21,315 |
| 43 | Maine | 127 | $22,511 |
| 44 | Wyoming | 125 | $21,557 |
| 45 | Rhode Island | 111 | $25,436 |
| 46 | Hawaii | 91 | $28,724 |
| 47 | North Dakota | 78 | $23,293 |
| 48 | South Dakota | 77 | $20,964 |
| 49 | Alaska | 65 | $23,491 |
| 50 | Vermont | 49 | $29,148 |
Top Skills For a Restaurant Server
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 28.3% of restaurant servers listed wine on their resume, but soft skills such as detail oriented and communication skills are important as well.
Choose From 10+ Customizable Restaurant Server Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Restaurant Server templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Restaurant Server resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Restaurant Server diversity
Restaurant Server Gender Distribution
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among restaurant servers, 59.2% of them are women, while 40.8% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among restaurant servers is White, which makes up 52.2% of all restaurant servers.
- The most common foreign language among restaurant servers is Spanish at 52.8%.
Online Courses For Restaurant Server That You May Like
1. Customer Segmentation and Prospecting
In Course 1, we set the foundation for the Art of Sales Specialization and offer a new mindset for becoming a high-performer in sales. We will discuss the Knowledge, Skill and Discipline that you need to stand out in your industry, and create a goal for you to reach by the end of the specialization. Finally, you will learn how to talk about yourself and your business. You will build your personal Sales Trailer and learn how to get into and out of sales conversations quickly and effectively...
2. SAP Customer Service (CS/SM) - Service Management module
Real World SAP CS and SD, Repair Orders, Service Orders, Service Contracts...
3. Customer Service Mastery: Delight Every Customer
Master Customer Service using this practical customer care course...
Best States For a Restaurant Server
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a restaurant server. The best states for people in this position are California, Washington, Massachusetts, and Vermont. Restaurant servers make the most in California with an average salary of $32,428. Whereas in Washington and Massachusetts, they would average $30,709 and $30,647, respectively. While restaurant servers would only make an average of $29,148 in Vermont, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Arizona
$26,754
Avg. Salary
2. California
$32,428
Avg. Salary
3. Colorado
$26,113
Avg. Salary
How Do Restaurant Servers Rate Their Jobs?
Top Restaurant Server Employers
Most Common Employers For Restaurant Server
| Rank | Company | Average Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Cheesecake Factory | $35,858 | $17.24 | 44 |
| 2 | Texas Roadhouse | $28,811 | $13.85 | 40 |
| 3 | Darden Restaurants | $26,159 | $12.58 | 113 |
| 4 | Outback Steakhouse | $25,832 | $12.42 | 54 |
| 5 | Cracker Barrel | $25,615 | $12.31 | 41 |
| 6 | Chili's Grill & Bar | $25,428 | $12.22 | 54 |
| 7 | Hyatt Hotels | $25,173 | $12.10 | 36 |
| 8 | Denny's | $24,757 | $11.90 | 34 |
| 9 | IHOP | $24,661 | $11.86 | 49 |
| 10 | Ruby Tuesday | $24,537 | $11.80 | 55 |
Restaurant Server Videos
