Sommelier vs restaurant server

The differences between sommeliers and restaurant servers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a sommelier has an average salary of $40,584, which is higher than the $24,558 average annual salary of a restaurant server.

The top three skills for a sommelier include wine, fine dining and POS. The most important skills for a restaurant server are wine, exceptional dining, and guest satisfaction.

Sommelier vs restaurant server overview

	Sommelier	Restaurant Server
Yearly salary	$40,584	$24,558
Hourly rate	$19.51	$11.81
Growth rate	10%	10%
Number of jobs	1,802	141,250
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 64%	Bachelor's Degree, 48%
Average age	28	28
Years of experience	-	-

Sommelier vs restaurant server salary

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

	Sommelier	Restaurant Server
Average salary	$40,584	$24,558
Salary range	Between $24,000 And $68,000	Between $15,000 And $37,000
Highest paying City	New York, NY	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	New York	California
Best paying company	Del Frisco's Restaurant Group	University of California, Berkeley
Best paying industry	Hospitality	Agriculture

Differences between sommelier and restaurant server education

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

	Sommelier	Restaurant Server
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 64%	Bachelor's Degree, 48%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Sommelier vs restaurant server demographics

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

	Sommelier	Restaurant Server
Average age	28	28
Gender ratio	Male, 68.3% Female, 31.7%	Male, 40.8% Female, 59.2%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 11.3% Unknown, 6.0% Hispanic or Latino, 21.5% Asian, 9.0% White, 51.4% 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	6%	6%

Differences between sommelier and restaurant server duties and responsibilities

Sommelier example responsibilities.

Manage sales and inventory for premier wine destination restaurant.
Wine, spirits and fine products sale.
Direct guest interaction and up-sell of wine and spirits.
Inventory, purchasing and cost control monitoring, transaction reconciliation, POS programming, payroll, sommelier work.
Purchase wines for one of the largest menu varieties in NYC.
Market wine selections with sales team through upselling or pouring wine product samples for testing.

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.

Sommelier vs restaurant server skills

Common sommelier skills

Wine, 44%
Fine Dining, 13%
POS, 5%
Culinary, 5%
Spirits, 4%
Sommeliers, 3%

Common restaurant server skills

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

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Food Preparation and Restaurant Industry
Sommelier
Sommelier vs Restaurant Server

Updated January 8, 2025

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