What does a restaurant manager do?

What is a Restaurant Manager?

A restaurant manager is someone who is the 'face' of a restaurant and whose main responsibilities are to deal with customer service issues as well as to ensure that the food quality coming out of the kitchen is the best it can be. He or she also deals with any staffing issues and ensures that everything runs as smoothly and profitably as possible.

What does a Restaurant Manager do?

The duties of a restaurant manager may differ depending on the business, but some duties will include the overseeing of food preparation, checking the quality and size of the servings, the organizing of stock, ordering food and drink supplies, maintaining equipment, adhering to health and safety precautions, making sure the kitchen and dining areas are cleaned according to certain standards, keeping records of these practices for health inspectors, and solving employee or customer problems.

Sometimes it will go as far as managing everything to the last detail, for example, ordering flowers for the tables. In addition, restaurant managers are often responsible for interviewing, hiring and supervising the training of new staff members, as well as organizing shifts, promoting good teamwork, paying staff and dividing the tips.

There is one extremely important skill restaurant managers have to be excellent at, and that is customer service. At the end of the day, the aim of the business is to give excellent customer satisfaction so that the customer will return again.

Therefore, it is important that customers receive prompt service in a professional and friendly manner. The restaurant manager needs to have enough staff available so that customers don't wait unnecessarily. No matter how unreasonable the customers are, the manager needs to possess the expertise and patience to deal with any issue. It is the manager's job to correct the existing problem and avoid future conflicts.

Very often restaurant managers are owners of the business as well, which means they will closely work with the chef, selecting recipes and compiling menus. Being the owner will also require a restaurant manager to be good at planning and balancing the budget, checking that everything is in order and that the accounts balance. In bigger businesses, they often plan marketing campaigns and strategies that help meet sales.

What is the workplace of a Restaurant Manager like?

Restaurant managers have a variety of work environments to choose from; from small family-owned restaurants, to golf courses, resorts, or big international restaurants and hotel chains.