Restaurant Manager Job Profile: The Business of Food

by Jane Greer

In a great restaurant, the food is delicious, the service is impeccable, the bathrooms are clean and pleasant, and the valet service is prompt and cheerful. As a restaurant manager, it will be your job to make all this happen. You'll supervise the executive chef, sommelier, and other key employees, and coordinate the activities of the kitchen, serving, banquet, facility maintenance, and parking staff. You'll hire and train employees and keep employee work records, make sure the restaurant meets all safety and health standards, and update food and drink licenses.

Restaurant Managers: A Day in the Life

As a restaurant manager, be prepared to work whenever the restaurant is open, including nights, weekends, and holidays. Because you're coordinating vastly different groups of employees, you will probably be among the first to arrive at the restaurant and the last to leave each day. You alone will have a perspective that encompasses every aspect of the restaurant's operations, and your job will be to make sure every employee is focusing on customer service so that the restaurant is profitable.

Restaurant Managers Training Requirements

Broad experience in restaurant operations is the key requirement for becoming a restaurant manager. Successful managers come from a variety of backgrounds, including culinary, accounting, and management. Regardless of your background and training, you'll need extensive high-level restaurant experience. You may start out in an entry-level job, washing dishes or serving food. Most of your years of training will take place on the job, perhaps as part of your employer's management training program.

You may not be required to attend college or culinary school, but classes will help you advance more quickly. You'll need to know how to use accounting software, handle human resources functions, and comply with employment laws. And you'll need to understand the basics of public relations, advertising, and marketing. Learning all this through experience can be a slow process; culinary school or college training classes, or even a two-year or four-year degree in hospitality management, may speed the process of becoming a restaurant manager.

Salary Information for Restaurant Managers

Your salary will depend on the location and type of restaurant you manage. According to the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual salary for food service managers--restaurant managers--was $44,570 in May 2006. The highest 10 percent of managers earned a salary of more than $74,000.

Sources

• National Restaurant Association
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

About the author:
Jane Greer is a freelance writer, editor, and communication consultant.