Restaurant server vs beverage server

The differences between restaurant servers and beverage servers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a beverage server has an average salary of $25,886, which is higher than the $24,558 average annual salary of a restaurant server.

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

Restaurant server vs beverage server overview

	Restaurant Server	Beverage Server
Yearly salary	$24,558	$25,886
Hourly rate	$11.81	$12.45
Growth rate	10%	10%
Number of jobs	141,250	79,100
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 48%	Bachelor's Degree, 32%
Average age	28	28
Years of experience	-	-

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.

What does a beverage server do?

A beverage server specializes in mixing and preparing drinks, serving them to customers courteously. Their responsibilities also include greeting the customers, taking orders, answering inquiries, offering recommendations when necessary, and checking the customers' identification to confirm their ages. They may also provide assistance to managers by monitoring beverage inventories, receiving and unloading deliveries, organizing supplies and equipment, and maintaining the cleanliness of work areas. Moreover, as a beverage server, it is essential to have a clear communication line with co-workers for smooth work operations.

Restaurant server vs beverage server salary

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

	Restaurant Server	Beverage Server
Average salary	$24,558	$25,886
Salary range	Between $15,000 And $37,000	Between $20,000 And $33,000
Highest paying City	Washington, DC	-
Highest paying state	California	-
Best paying company	University of California, Berkeley	-
Best paying industry	Agriculture	-

Differences between restaurant server and beverage server education

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

	Restaurant Server	Beverage Server
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 48%	Bachelor's Degree, 32%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Restaurant server vs beverage server demographics

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

	Restaurant Server	Beverage Server
Average age	28	28
Gender ratio	Male, 40.8% Female, 59.2%	Male, 13.6% Female, 86.4%
Race ratio	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%	Black or African American, 11.5% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 19.3% Asian, 8.3% White, 54.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between restaurant server and beverage server duties and responsibilities

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.

Beverage server example responsibilities.

Open and close the register, provide credit card and cash reports, and batches on POS.
Learned more about different liquor, cocktails and wine, drink mixes and special drink of the month.
Work with large amounts of cash as well as credit cards, and knowledge of the POS system.
Present menus to guest, answer and give information about menu items such as wine selections to pair with meal.
Maintain cleanliness in assign section utilizing a silent service approach.
Supervise daily operations to ensure food safety, product preparation, cleanliness standards are maintain.

Restaurant server vs beverage server skills

Common restaurant server skills

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

Common beverage server skills

Drink Orders, 10%
Guest Service, 9%
Beverage Orders, 8%
Exceptional Guest, 6%
Guest Satisfaction, 5%
Professional Appearance, 5%

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Restaurant Server vs Beverage Server

Updated January 8, 2025

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