How To Become A Bar Host: What It Is and Career Path

What is a bar host and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a bar host. For example, did you know that they make an average of $11.59 an hour? That's $24,113 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 9% and produce 372,900 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreBar HostUS Average

Salary

1.9

Avg. Salary $24,113

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

5.8

Growth Rate 9%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.49%

Asian 5.79%

Black or African American 7.60%

Hispanic or Latino 20.54%

Unknown 7.18%

White 58.41%

Gender

female 28.93%

male 71.07%

Age - 20

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 20

Stress Level

5.8

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

3.7

Complexity Level is basic

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

10.0

Work Life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a bar host

Explore bar host education requirements

Most common bar host degrees

Bachelor's

42.2 %

High School Diploma

28.3 %

Associate

18.6 %

Start to develop specific bar host skills

Skills	Percentages
Reservations	23.77%
Wine	9.85%
Guest Satisfaction	7.01%
POS	6.98%
Cleanliness	6.82%

Complete relevant bar host training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New bar hosts learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a bar host based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real bar host resumes.

Research bar host duties and responsibilities

Assist guests in booking reservations and manage guest history data using OpenTable reservation system.
Provide guests with an excellent dining experience by asking questions about allergies or preferences and initiating conversation for customer confidence.
Build relationships with guests -help prepare for restaurant opening -Maintain restaurant at all times -Persuasive- positive use of upselling techniques

Prepare your bar host resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your bar host resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a bar host resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Bar Host Resume templates

Build a professional Bar Host resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Bar Host resume.

Apply for bar host jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a bar host job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do bar hosts rate their job?

-/5

5 Stars

4 Stars

3 Stars

2 Stars

1 Star

Bar Host reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Jul 2021

Pros

What I like about working as a hostess is that you get to greet and meet new people on a daily basis.

Cons

What I don’t like at times about being a hostess is sometimes running into those mean and rude customers at times.

A zippia user wrote a review on Nov 2019