What does a Buffet Attendant do?

Updated January 8, 2025
6 min read
What does a Buffet Attendant do
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Buffet attendant responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real buffet attendant resumes:

  • Manage VIP's with personal requirements and assist in their room set up and hospitality experience.
  • Maintain cleanliness of equipment, tables, utensils, and floors to ensure safety, and sanitation regulations are meet.
  • Maintain cleanliness and temperature log.
  • Keep records on individual pet, including daily observations and information activities perform, meals sever, and medication administer.
  • Lift raw materials, finish products, and pack items, manually or using hoists.

Buffet attendant skills and personality traits

We calculated that 21% of Buffet Attendants are proficient in Cleanliness, Food Handling, and Buffet Line. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Customer-service skills, and Physical strength.

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

  • Cleanliness, 21%

    Maintained cleanliness and temperature log.

  • Food Handling, 20%

    Followed sanitary, and proper food handling as set forth by both the state and corporate mandates.

  • Buffet Line, 8%

    Buffet worker include serving (or monitoring) food and drinks to people as they walk the buffet line.

  • Buffets, 6%

    Opened/closed the buffets *Maintained sanitation pertaining to corporate policy

  • Culinary, 6%

    Utilized culinary skills, exercised customer service, oral communication, and multitasking skills

  • Wine, 6%

    Participated in classes to help with knowledge of different brands of beer, wine, and spirits.

"cleanliness," "food handling," and "buffet line" are among the most common skills that buffet attendants use at work. You can find even more buffet attendant responsibilities below, including:

Communication skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a buffet 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." Buffet attendants often use communication skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "follow sanitation and safety standards, and keeping open communication with team members. "

Customer-service skills. Many buffet attendant duties rely on customer-service skills. "food service establishments rely on good food and customer service to keep customers and succeed in a competitive industry," so a buffet attendant will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways buffet attendant responsibilities rely on customer-service skills: "prepared and stocked buffet; coordinated with kitchen; greeted customers; maintained cleanliness standards. "

Physical strength. This is an important skill for buffet attendants to perform their duties. For an example of how buffet attendant responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "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 excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a buffet attendant: "assisted with patients that are up under the supervision of the physical therapist. ".

See the full list of buffet attendant skills

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Compare different buffet attendants

Buffet attendant vs. Dining room coordinator

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.

The annual salary of dining room coordinators is $7,206 higher than the average salary of buffet attendants.Even though buffet attendants and dining room coordinators are distinct careers, a few of the skills required for both jobs are similar. For example, both careers require wine, customer service, and food safety in the day-to-day roles and responsibilities.

While similarities exist, there are also some differences between buffet attendants and dining room coordinator. For instance, buffet attendant responsibilities require skills such as "cleanliness," "food handling," "buffet line," and "good communication." Whereas a dining room coordinator is skilled in "reservations," "front desk," "guest satisfaction," and "private dining." This is part of what separates the two careers.

On average, dining room coordinators reach similar levels of education than buffet attendants. Dining room coordinators are 3.7% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.2% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Buffet attendant vs. Dining room server

Foodservice workers are employees at restaurants, food trucks, or any outlet that provides food to customers. They may be assigned to welcome customers, take food orders, prepare food orders in the kitchen, serve food, handle customer payments, clean up the tables once the guests leave, or maintain the whole store's cleanliness. They may also be assigned to manage inventories, handle stocks and deliveries, and other activities related to the restaurant's successful operations. Foodservice workers must always be hygienic and maintain the sanitation of the area to ensure food safety.

A career as a dining room server brings a higher average salary when compared to the average annual salary of a buffet attendant. In fact, dining room servers salary is $3,402 higher than the salary of buffet attendants per year.A few skills overlap for buffet attendants and dining room servers. Resumes from both professions show that the duties of each career rely on skills like "cleanliness," "food handling," and "buffets. "

In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, buffet attendant responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "buffet line," "good communication," "safety standards," and "food safety." Meanwhile, a dining room server has duties that require skills in areas such as "beverage orders," "senior care," "meal service," and "team work." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.

Dining room servers earn a higher average salary than buffet attendants. But dining room servers earn the highest pay in the hospitality industry, with an average salary of $29,758. Additionally, buffet attendants earn the highest salaries in the hospitality with average pay of $25,927 annually.dining room servers earn similar levels of education than buffet attendants in general. They're 1.3% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Buffet attendant vs. Food service worker

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 food service worker eans a higher salary compared to the average salary of buffet attendants. The difference in salaries amounts to food service workers earning a $2,615 higher average salary than buffet attendants.buffet attendants and food service workers both have job responsibilities that require similar skill sets. These similarities include skills such as "cleanliness," "food handling," and "buffets," but they differ when it comes to other required skills.

Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from buffet attendant resumes include skills like "buffet line," "good communication," "wine," and "bars," whereas a food service worker is more likely to list skills in "patients," "pet," "cash control," and "rehabilitation. "

Food service workers make a very good living in the retail industry with an average annual salary of $30,177. On the other hand, buffet attendants are paid the highest salary in the hospitality industry, with average annual pay of $25,927.Most food service workers achieve a similar degree level compared to buffet attendants. For example, they're 0.4% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Buffet attendant vs. Room service server

Room service servers tend to earn a higher pay than buffet attendants by an average of $579 per year.While both buffet attendants and room service servers complete day-to-day tasks using similar skills like cleanliness, culinary, and wine, the two careers vary in some skills.Each job also requires different skills to carry out their responsibilities. A buffet attendant uses "food handling," "buffet line," "good communication," and "buffets." Room service servers are more likely to have duties that require skills in "guest rooms," "beverage orders," "cash handling," and "guest service. "The hospitality industry tends to pay the highest salaries for room service servers, with average annual pay of $26,687. Comparatively, the highest buffet attendant annual salary comes from the hospitality industry.room service servers reach similar levels of education compared to buffet attendants, in general. The difference is that they're 0.8% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.3% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of buffet 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.

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