What does a Bar Attendant do?

Updated January 8, 2025
7 min read
What does a Bar Attendant do
On This Page

Bar attendant responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real bar attendant resumes:

  • Maintain cleanliness and organization of designate work areas.
  • Maintain cleanliness, sanitation and organize assigned work areas.
  • Keep records on individual pet, including daily observations and information activities perform, meals sever, and medication administer.
  • Set up the VIP area.
  • Check IDs.Security.Make judgment calls.handle bar responsibilities.greet guest in a professional respectable manner.handle and count money.

Bar attendant skills and personality traits

We calculated that 25% of Bar Attendants are proficient in Cleanliness, Front Desk, and Quality Standards. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Customer-service skills, and Physical strength.

We break down the percentage of Bar Attendants that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Cleanliness, 25%

    Maintained cleanliness, sanitation and organized assigned work areas.

  • Front Desk, 16%

    Assisted the front desk staff to remove any unwanted persons, as necessary.

  • Quality Standards, 14%

    Performed daily opening procedures with knowledge of quality standards and organic practices.

  • Guest Satisfaction, 12%

    Prepared food Helped guests/ensured guest satisfaction Cleaned and organized breakfast bar area

  • Clean Tables, 6%

    Clear and clean tables as customers finished.

  • Cash Handling, 4%

    Tracked all cash handling while on duty to ensure all money was accounted for and balanced.

Most bar attendants use their skills in "cleanliness," "front desk," and "quality standards" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential bar attendant responsibilities here:

Communication skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a bar attendant to have is communication skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "food and beverage serving and related workers must listen to customers’ orders and relay them correctly to the kitchen staff so that the orders are prepared as requested." Bar attendants often use communication skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "interacted with customers to provide information in response to inquiries about products excellent communication & customer service skills"

Customer-service skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling bar attendant duties is customer-service skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "food service establishments rely on good food and customer service to keep customers and succeed in a competitive industry." According to a bar attendant resume, here's how bar attendants can utilize customer-service skills in their job responsibilities: "inventory all guest mini bars, post appropriate charges to the room prior to guest departure. "

Physical strength. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of bar attendants is physical strength. This skill is critical to many everyday bar attendant duties, as "food and beverage serving and related workers need to be able to lift and carry stock and equipment that can weigh up to 50 pounds." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "assisted with patients that are up under the supervision of the physical therapist. "

All bar attendant skills

The three companies that hire the most bar attendants are:

Choose from 10+ customizable bar attendant resume templates

Build a professional bar attendant resume in minutes. Our AI resume writing assistant will guide you through every step of the process, and you can choose from 10+ resume templates to create your bar attendant resume.
Bar Attendant Resume
Bar Attendant Resume
Bar Attendant Resume
Bar Attendant Resume
Bar Attendant Resume
Bar Attendant Resume
Bar Attendant Resume
Bar Attendant Resume
Bar Attendant Resume
Bar Attendant Resume
Bar Attendant Resume
Bar Attendant Resume
Bar Attendant Resume
Bar Attendant Resume
Bar Attendant Resume
Bar Attendant Resume

Compare different bar attendants

Bar attendant vs. Dining room server

A dining room server performs various tasks to give patrons a positive dining experience. Their job usually entails greeting customers and presenting the menu, taking their orders, answering inquiries, recommending products and other services, serving drinks and food, and handling concerns professionally and courteously. They are also responsible for coordinating with cashiers and kitchen staff, cleaning and preparing tables for new customers, and assisting staff as needed. In some establishments, a dining room server may also participate in preparing drinks or ingredients, monitoring supply inventories, and collecting payments.

We looked at the average bar attendant salary and compared it with the wages of a dining room server. Generally speaking, dining room servers are paid $5,245 higher than bar attendants per year.While the two careers have a salary gap, they share some of the same responsibilities. Employees in both bar attendant and dining room server positions are skilled in cleanliness, front desk, and quality standards.

There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, bar attendant responsibilities require skills like "cash handling," "guest inquiries," "customer complaints," and "spoons." Meanwhile a typical dining room server has skills in areas such as "food service," "beverage orders," "food handling," and "senior care." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.

Dining room servers earn the highest salaries when working in the hospitality industry, with an average yearly salary of $29,758. On the other hand, bar attendants are paid more in the retail industry with an average salary of $26,464.dining room servers tend to reach similar levels of education than bar attendants. In fact, dining room servers are 0.2% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.

Bar attendant vs. Food server

A Food Server specializes in helping customers attain a pleasant dining experience while ensuring to meet all food handling and health regulation standards. Most of the responsibilities revolve around greeting customers and directing them to comfortable seats, responding to their inquires and taking their orders, and courteously suggesting options. Aside from serving meals, Food Servers must also accept payments, organize order receipts, replenish stocks in food containers and drinking stations, and clean tables for the new customers.

Food server positions earn higher pay than bar attendant roles. They earn a $914 higher salary than bar attendants per year.Only some things about these jobs are the same. Take their skills, for example. Bar attendants and food servers both require similar skills like "cleanliness," "guest satisfaction," and "clean tables" to carry out their responsibilities.

While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that bar attendant responsibilities requires skills like "front desk," "quality standards," "bars," and "guest inquiries." But a food server might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "beverage orders," "guest service," "beverage service," and "bus tables."

On average, food servers earn a higher salary than bar attendants. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, food servers earn the most pay in the retail industry with an average salary of $27,445. Whereas bar attendants have higher pay in the retail industry, with an average salary of $26,464.food servers earn similar levels of education than bar attendants in general. They're 0.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Bar attendant vs. Room service server

A room service server is an employee employed in a hotel or lodging to provide various services to the room occupants in the hotel. They often deliver ordered food, drinks, or movies to the occupants' rooms. Their duties and responsibilities include delivery of ordered foods or drinks, taking orders, collecting dirty dishes from rooms, and maintaining supplies and orders.

An average room service server eans a higher salary compared to the average salary of bar attendants. The difference in salaries amounts to room service servers earning a $2,422 higher average salary than bar attendants.By looking over several bar attendants and room service servers resumes, we found that both roles require similar skills in their day-to-day duties, such as "cleanliness," "front desk," and "guest satisfaction." But beyond that, the careers look very different.

Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from bar attendant resumes include skills like "quality standards," "clean tables," "bars," and "guest inquiries," whereas a room service server is more likely to list skills in "beverage orders," "in-room," "guest service," and "food service. "

Room service servers earn the best pay in the hospitality industry, where they command an average salary of $26,687. Bar attendants earn the highest pay from the retail industry, with an average salary of $26,464.room service servers typically earn similar educational levels compared to bar attendants. Specifically, they're 0.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Bar attendant vs. Bus boy

The job of busboys is to assist other staff members at a restaurant by doing varied tasks. These include greeting customers, cleaning and resetting tables, and removing dishes after customers leave. Other tasks include cleaning furniture, fixtures, and kitchen equipment, and tidying up any spills and mopping the floors. Busboys are also responsible for ensuring the availability of clean dining materials such as flatware and glasses. The requirements needed for this role may include a high school diploma, previous work experience, and excellent communication and customer service skills.

Bus boys tend to earn a higher pay than bar attendants by an average of $137 per year.According to resumes from bar attendants and bus boys, some of the skills necessary to complete the responsibilities of each role are similar. These skills include "clean tables," "customer service," and "drink orders. "

Even though a few skill sets overlap between bar attendants and bus boys, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a bar attendant might have more use for skills like "cleanliness," "front desk," "quality standards," and "guest satisfaction." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of bus boys require skills like "dishwashers," "bus tables," "clean linen," and "ice water. "

The manufacturing industry tends to pay the highest salaries for bus boys, with average annual pay of $26,928. Comparatively, the highest bar attendant annual salary comes from the retail industry.The average resume of bus boys showed that they earn similar levels of education compared to bar attendants. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 0.7% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 0.3%.

Types of bar attendant

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Browse food preparation and restaurant jobs