10-2 Types of Restaurant Jobs

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Most restaurants move at a fast pace and most of the staff must work long hours and deal with pressure.

Running the kitchen of a restaurant can get chaotic and you will need to have strong leadership skills and organizational skills. Getting a restaurant job is fairly easy, as you will always find the need for another chef at any restaurant, whether it is for a head chef, demi chef, manager, or server. Depending on the type of restaurant you work at, you can expect a good to excellent chef salary, and you can apply for a sous chef or head chef / master chef right away, if you have 3-5 years of experience in the position you are applying for.

Manager

The operations manager of a restaurant has the important job of making sure that the restaurant runs perfectly when there are customers and that it receives a good turnover of people. You will oversee the kitchen staff and liaise with the head chef. You will check on the other workers at the restaurant including the serving, floor, bar, and front of house staff. The operations manager is in charge of the entire restaurant and will cover everything including the finances and the ordering of products. No cooking skills are required as such, but you should be able to perform basic tasks in the kitchen to help the head chef if needed, the grillers, the bar, and front of house.

Master Chef / Head Chef

The master chef runs the kitchen and can also be called the kitchen or chef manager, and head restaurant cook. You will be in charge of the kitchen including expenses, garbage removal, the other chefs, assistant, and food preparation workers. You will also train any new kitchen staff and chef and report directly to the manager.

Grillers

The grillers are a very necessary part of a restaurant that serves burgers, steaks, and other meats steakhouse style. Restaurant jobs offered for grillers are found at most family restaurants and grill houses, but some five-star, up market restaurants also need grillers, so you can apply many places for this restaurant job.

Demi Chef

The demi chef at a restaurant has the role of assisting the sous chef or the chef de partie. The demi chef must make sure that all the food going out is perfect and must also make sure that all stations are clean and that all the waste is minimized. You will need to have a passion for the food that is being created and you will sometimes need to help with training new chefs and food preparation workers.

Sous Chef

The sous chef or chef de partie is the second in command and will take over the running of the kitchen if the head chef is not there. The sous chef will be responsible for making the majority of the main courses and for helping with the preparation of the starters and salads. The sous chef will also need to be responsible for the cleanliness of the head chef's station and must make all of the courses that the head chef makes.

Pastry Cook

Pastry cooks make breads, desserts, ice creams and additional sweet goods for a restaurant. A pastry cook should expect to help prepare a variety of baked goods, plate orders during service and maintain a clean kitchen.

Host / Maitre d’

The host assists customers in making reservations in person and on the telephone and seats customers upon arrival. Hosts should be approachable, well groomed and capable of standing alone for long stretches of time while waiting for customers.

Bartender

Bartenders are responsible for mixing drinks for bar patrons and servers and for maintaining a well-stocked bar. Bartenders should expect to lift wine cases, glasses and other heavy objects and to be outgoing and friendly with all patrons.

Server / Waiter / Waitress

Servers take orders and run food to tables. Servers will need to memorize food and wine descriptions, balance several hot plates in their hands, correctly anticipate a table's needs, and be graceful and friendly when serving customers.

Busser / Busboy

A busser is more formally known as a server assistant because they back up the server. They do things like setting tables, clearing dishes, completely clearing and resetting tables, pouring water, and serving bread and butter. The term busser comes from the term "bussing tables", which means clearing them.

Food Runner

Food runners help servers bring ready food to a table, ensuring the customers get hot food while it's hot. Food runners should be alert, fast, capable of remembering which seat gets which dish, and able to handle the pressure of working near a restaurant kitchen.

With the proper motivation, a lot of patience and a hard work ethic, you can make the most out of working at a restaurant, achieving your financial and personal goals without letting the stresses of the job overwhelm you.

Vocabulary

Word	Meaning	Example
pressure	stress	Most restaurants move at a fast pace and most of the staff must work long hours and deal with pressure.
chaotic	completely unpredictable, and confusing	Running the kitchen of a restaurant can get chaotic and you will need to have strong leadership skills and organizational skills.
excellent	very good; of the highest quality	Depending on the type of restaurant you work at, you can expect a good to excellent chef salary, and you can apply for a sous chef or head chef / master chef right away, if you have 3-5 years of experience in the position you are applying for.
receive	get something; come into possession of	The operations manager of a restaurant has the important job of making sure that the restaurant runs perfectly when there are customers and that it receives a good turnover of people.
garbage	food that is discarded (as from a kitchen); refuse; waste	The garbage was taken out by a kitchen helper ten minutes ago.
preparation	the activity of putting or setting in order in advance of some act or purpose	You will be in charge of the kitchen including expenses, garbage removal, the other chefs, assistant, and food preparation workers.
minimized	reduced to the smallest possible size or amount or degree	The demi chef must make sure that all the food going out is perfect and must also make sure that all stations are clean and that all the waste is minimized.
approachable	accessible; friendly	The maitre d' was very approachable; he smiled when we asked him for assistance.
capable	(usually followed by `of') having capacity or ability	Hosts should be approachable, well groomed and capable of standing alone for long stretches of time while waiting for customers.
outgoing	at ease in talking to others	Bartenders should expect to lift wine cases, glasses and other heavy objects and to be outgoing and friendly with all patrons.
memorize	commit to memory; learn by heart	In order to get the job, Stan had to memorize the restaurant's menu.
anticipate	realize beforehand	The waiter anticipated our needs.
graceful	characterized by beauty of movement, style, form, or execution	Servers will need to memorize food and wine descriptions, balance several hot plates in their hands, correctly anticipate a table's needs, and be graceful and friendly when serving customers.
motivation	the desire or willingness of someone to do something	With the proper motivation, a heavy dose of patience and a hard work ethic, you can make the most out of working at a restaurant, achieving your monetary and personal goals without letting the stresses of the job overwhelm you.
patience	good-natured tolerance of delay or incompetence	The waitress showed great patience while my brother changed his order seven times.
achieve	to gain with effort	The restaurant did not achieve its goal of serving 100,000 meals last year.
overwhelm	overcome	During the lunch hour, the staff were overwhelmed by the huge crowd that waited outside to eat.
turnover	the ratio of the number of workers that had to be replaced in a given time period to the average number of workers	The restaurant had a high turnover; therefore, the manager was always trying to hire new employees.
main course	the principal dish of a meal	They ordered fish for the main course.
liaise	act between parties with a view to reconciling differences	The manager liaised with the head chef.