Job Description for Restaurant Hosts

Restaurant hosts greet customers.

The first person most people see when they enter a restaurant, a restaurant host greets and welcomes diners and organizes the restaurant's seating. This person creates an important first impression for the restaurant and sets the tone for the meal.

Significance

A restaurant host is significant for creating a positive first impression with her welcoming manner, clean host stand and entry way, and organized restaurant seating chart. If any of this is amiss, a diner can immediately develop a poor impression, so this role is critical to the restaurant's overall atmosphere and ambiance.

Function

The restaurant host can serve a number of functions. For instance, duties can include, but aren't limited to, taking reservations and listening to phone messages, taking coats, seating guests, wiping down menus, counting number of diners, serving as cashier, updating seating charts, working closely with servers and cooks to ensure smooth delivery, and saying goodbye to diners as they leave. The job requirements entail someone who can multitask.

Benefits

Unlike waiters who work primarily for tips, restaurant hosts generally earn a set salary, so they know how much they will bring home from week to week. Further, unlike restaurant cooks who often leave a shift covered in food, the host job is clean, but may require dressing up. Regardless, like everyone else who works in a restaurant, the host must always be friendly, accommodating and welcoming, even to the most difficult of diners.

Time Frame

If a restaurant has counter-service only during the day, it might not have a daytime host, however, most nicer restaurants have hosts throughout their serving hours. Depending on the type of restaurant and its business hours, a host can work anywhere from early in the morning until very late at night.

Opportunity

According to PayScale.com's Host and Hostess Survey, many restaurant hosts go on to become restaurant managers, customer service representatives and administrative assistants, taking advantage of their organizational and managerial skills. In general, restaurant host job description prepares successful candidates for work in offices, hospitals (non-medical jobs), retail and other food-service careers.

References

• Food and Beverage Underground: Host and Hostess Job Description
• Pay Scale: Hosts and Hostesses Job Description