Waitress vs restaurant server

The differences between waitresses and restaurant servers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a waitress has an average salary of $24,770, which is higher than the $24,558 average annual salary of a restaurant server.

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

Waitress vs restaurant server overview

	Waitress	Restaurant Server
Yearly salary	$24,770	$24,558
Hourly rate	$11.91	$11.81
Growth rate	10%	10%
Number of jobs	87,315	141,250
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 36%	Bachelor's Degree, 48%
Average age	28	28
Years of experience	-	-

What does a waitress do?

Waitresses are responsible for ensuring that guests are given proper attention during their visit to the restaurant. They guide guests to their table, provide menu boards, answer any questions the guests may have, take the guests' order, and communicate the order to the kitchen. Once the order is ready, waitresses collect the food from the kitchen and serve it to the guests. They then give guests time to finish their meal. Upon the guests' request, waitresses bring them their bill and wait for them to finish paying up. Once the guests leave, waitresses are responsible for ensuring that the table is ready for the next guests.

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.

Waitress vs restaurant server salary

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

	Waitress	Restaurant Server
Average salary	$24,770	$24,558
Salary range	Between $17,000 And $35,000	Between $15,000 And $37,000
Highest paying City	Washington, DC	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	New York	California
Best paying company	New York Institute of Technology	University of California, Berkeley
Best paying industry	Hospitality	Agriculture

Differences between waitress and restaurant server education

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

	Waitress	Restaurant Server
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 36%	Bachelor's Degree, 48%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Waitress vs restaurant server demographics

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

	Waitress	Restaurant Server
Average age	28	28
Gender ratio	Male, 19.9% Female, 80.1%	Male, 40.8% Female, 59.2%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 11.9% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 20.2% Asian, 8.6% White, 53.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	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 waitress and restaurant server duties and responsibilities

Waitress example responsibilities.

Manage a recurring book of business of top VIP clients secure through networking.
Relay orders to bar and kitchen by quickly and accurately recording guest selections and keying them into the POS computer system.
wait tables, handle money, exceed guest expectations, serve food and drinks, micros, clean, side work.
Increase store sales by upselling merchandise.
Enter order/payment information into micros system, deliver receipt and change to the customer.
Bring wine selections to tables with appropriate glasses, and pour the wines for customers.

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.

Waitress vs restaurant server skills

Common waitress skills

Food Orders, 13%
Food Preparation, 9%
Customer Orders, 8%
POS, 7%
Drink Orders, 5%
Customer Service, 5%

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
Waitress
Waitress vs Restaurant Server

Updated January 8, 2025

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