A clear guide to restaurant roles: what each front-of-house, back-of-house and management position does, how roles are usually paid, how they work together on a shift and which roles you need for your concept.
Every restaurant, from a counter-service cafe to a fine-dining room, has the same basic split: people who serve guests and people who prepare food, with managers who make sure both sides work together. Small restaurants combine roles; a busy full-service restaurant may have a dozen distinct positions on a Saturday night. Knowing what each role does helps you write clear job descriptions, schedule the right mix of people and set fair pay. See our restaurant schedule guide for how roles fit into a weekly schedule.
EZTime digital HR forms let you send, sign and file employee documents online.
| Role | What they do | Usually tipped? |
|---|---|---|
| Host / hostess | Greets guests, manages the waitlist and reservations, seats tables and balances server sections | Sometimes, depending on the restaurant |
| Server | Takes orders, explains the menu, serves food and drinks, handles payment and guest experience | Yes |
| Bartender | Mixes and serves drinks, manages the bar, checks IDs and handles bar tabs | Yes |
| Barback | Restocks the bar, changes kegs, cleans glassware and supports bartenders | Often, through tip-outs or pools |
| Busser | Clears and resets tables, refills water and supports servers | Often, through tip-outs or pools |
| Food runner | Delivers food from kitchen to tables accurately and quickly | Often, through tip-outs or pools |
| Cashier / counter staff | Takes orders and payments in counter-service settings | Varies |
| Sommelier | Advises guests on wine and manages the wine program in upscale restaurants | Yes, in many restaurants |
Whether a role is customarily tipped affects whether it can be included in a tip pool when you take a tip credit. See tip pooling rules and restaurant tip-outs.
| Role | What they do |
|---|---|
| Executive chef | Creates the menu, sets standards, manages food cost and leads the kitchen team |
| Sous chef | Second in command; runs the line during service, supervises cooks and covers for the executive chef |
| Kitchen manager | Handles ordering, inventory, scheduling and compliance; common in restaurants without an executive chef |
| Line cook / station cook | Cooks dishes at a specific station such as grill, sauté, fry or cold |
| Prep cook | Prepares ingredients before service: chopping, portioning, sauces and stocks |
| Expeditor (expo) | Coordinates tickets between kitchen and floor, checks plates before they go out |
| Dishwasher | Cleans dishes, utensils and equipment; keeps the kitchen sanitary |
| Pastry cook | Prepares desserts and baked goods in restaurants with a pastry program |
Expo is sometimes a front-of-house role and sometimes a back-of-house one, depending on the restaurant.
Roles mapped. Every position is covered.
Our restaurant manager daily checklist shows what a typical shift manager covers.
| Concept | Typical roles |
|---|---|
| Counter service / cafe | Cashier, cooks, prep, dishwasher, shift lead, manager |
| Fast casual | Cashier, line cooks, prep, expo, dishwasher, shift managers, GM |
| Casual full service | Host, servers, bussers, bartender, line cooks, prep, dishwasher, expo, floor manager, kitchen manager, GM |
| Fine dining | All of the above plus sommelier, food runners, captain, sous chef, pastry, more managers |
Use sales data by hour and day to decide how many of each role you need per shift. Our guide to restaurant labor cost percentage helps you check that staffing fits your sales.
Whether a role is tipped changes how it can be paid. Federal rules set the floor:
In practice this splits your team in two. Servers, bartenders and bussers may be paid with a tip credit where state law allows it, while cooks, dishwashers and most hosts are paid at least the full minimum wage. Check your state’s tipped wage before writing pay into any job description.
Pay structures differ by role. Tipped front-of-house employees may be paid a lower cash wage plus tips where state law allows a tip credit; in states that do not allow a tip credit, they receive the full minimum wage before tips. Back-of-house roles are usually paid an hourly wage without a tip credit. Managers are often salaried, but a salary alone does not make them exempt from overtime; they must also meet the duties and salary tests. See exempt vs. non-exempt employees and restaurant payroll basics.
Employees who work two roles, such as a server who also does prep before service, raise questions about tip credits for the non-tipped work. Track time by role where it matters.
For each role, write a short description with the main duties, the shifts involved, physical demands such as lifting or standing for long periods, required certifications such as a food handler card, who the role reports to and how it is paid. Clear descriptions attract the right applicants, make interviews easier and help when you need to explain why a task belongs to one role rather than another. Review them when your menu, service style or hours change.
Restaurants are a common first job. Federal child labor rules limit the hours of 14- and 15-year-olds and restrict the tasks they can do, including most cooking and baking, and prohibit workers under 18 from operating certain hazardous equipment such as power-driven meat slicers. Many states add their own rules. See child labor laws for employers before assigning roles to teens.
Many restaurant leaders started as dishwashers, bussers or hosts. Common paths include busser to server to shift lead to floor manager, and dishwasher to prep cook to line cook to sous chef. Showing employees these paths, and training them for the next step, improves retention in an industry with high turnover. See how to reduce employee turnover.
EZTime lets managers schedule by role, so each shift has the right mix of servers, cooks and support staff. Employees clock in from a kiosk or phone, breaks are tracked with alerts and EzTip calculates tip pool shares from actual hours. See EZTime for restaurants and restaurant managers.
Front of house covers roles that work with guests, such as hosts, servers, bartenders and bussers. Back of house covers kitchen roles, such as chefs, cooks, prep and dishwashers, plus areas like storage and receiving.
It depends on the concept, but every restaurant needs someone responsible for food (a chef or kitchen manager), someone responsible for guests (a server or cashier), someone keeping the kitchen clean (a dishwasher) and someone in charge of the shift.
The expeditor manages the flow of tickets between kitchen and dining room, checks that each plate is correct and complete, and makes sure food goes out at the right time.
Only if they meet both the salary test and the duties test for an exemption. A salaried title alone is not enough. Many shift managers who spend most of their time on the same tasks as their team are non-exempt.
Workers 16 and 17 can do most kitchen jobs but cannot operate certain hazardous equipment. Workers 14 and 15 face tighter hour limits and can do only limited kitchen tasks under federal rules. States may add restrictions.
A sous chef is the kitchen’s second in command: supervising cooks, running the line when the chef is away, ordering and training. A line cook works one station, such as grill, sauté or fry, and prepares dishes to the restaurant’s standards during service.
It depends on seats, hours and service style. A small counter-service spot may run a shift with a few people, while a full-service dining room needs servers, a host, bussers and several cooks at peak. Build staffing from your covers per hour and the stations you must keep open, then adjust with real sales data.
EZTime builds schedules by role and location, sends them to staff phones and tracks hours for tipped and non-tipped staff alike.