What does a Server Assistant do?

Updated January 8, 2025
7 min read

A server assistant, also known as a busser, is a restaurant employee who assists food servers in providing prompt and polite service to their guests. Server assistants are responsible for the preparation of tables for their arriving guests at the same time to help deliver food to tables when the food servers are busy. Aside from entertaining guests, server assistants must ensure that beverages are refilled, menus are sanitized, and process payments. Server assistants must also possess excellent communication and customer service skills.

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Server assistant responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real server assistant resumes:

  • Manage event reservations and party requests, inform customers about upcoming events and specials.
  • Set up chairs, tables, and workstations.
  • Stock the bar and service areas for bartenders and beverage servers.
  • Deliver food orders to guests accordingly to five stars five diamonds standards.
  • Direct other beverage servers and bartenders when to take breaks and for how long.
  • Assist servers with taking orders, ringing in orders on the POS and running food.
  • Enter orders into POS system, run food, assist other employees, including bartenders and hostesses.
  • Deliver quick, efficient, and friendly service in one of the largest tequila bars in Texas.
  • Assist service team by communicating with the culinary staff and running food to guests in the dining room.
  • Stock service bars, make sure bar are clean and up to health code standards at all times.
  • Prepare room service table to ensure that the guest have an in-room dining experience comparable to the restaurant.
  • Communicate with management, chefs and culinary staff in order to fulfill and address any issues or needs request by guests.
  • Deliver meals to customers' rooms in a timely and professional manner ensuring highest level of customer satisfactory for in-room diners.
  • Have ability to stand and walk for long periods of time, possessinggeneral math skills, and knowledge of all products.
  • Offer recommendations and upsell with integrity.

Server assistant skills and personality traits

We calculated that 16% of Server Assistants are proficient in Cleanliness, Reservations, and Service Stations. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Customer-service skills, and Physical strength.

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

  • Cleanliness, 16%

    Maintained cleanliness by removing courses, replacing utensils and refilling beverages.

  • Reservations, 13%

    Developed positive communication skills by greeting over 50 customers each day and answering questions regarding menus and reservations.

  • Service Stations, 10%

    Set up and break down dining room and service stations as prescribed; this required movement of dining area furniture.

  • Wine, 6%

    Trained in food safety and wine characteristics/service, experienced in expediting and cocktail service.

  • Ruby, 5%

    Clear dirty dishes, glass, and tableware and reset tables according to Ruby Tuesday standards.

  • Exceptional Dining, 5%

    Mediated and alleviated any customer concerns to ensure an exceptional dining experience.

Most server assistants use their skills in "cleanliness," "reservations," and "service stations" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential server assistant responsibilities here:

Communication skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a server assistant 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." Server assistants often use communication skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "used effective communication to establish cleanliness and order. "

Customer-service skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling server assistant 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 server assistant resume, here's how server assistants can utilize customer-service skills in their job responsibilities: "greet customers, maintain clean service stations. "

Physical strength. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of server assistants is physical strength. This skill is critical to many everyday server assistant 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: "observe and evaluate children's performance, behavior, social development, and physical health. "

All server assistant skills

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Compare different server assistants

Server assistant vs. Food runner

Food Runners are responsible for assisting waitstaff on serving customers at a restaurant or similar establishment. Among their duties include maintaining cleanliness in particular areas, setting tables, refilling drinks, assisting customers with everything that they need, and coordinating with the workforce in and out of the kitchen. Furthermore, Food Runners need to ensure that all deliveries are accurate according to what is ordered by a customer. It is essential to stay presentable and helpful at all times as the main priority is customer satisfaction.

We looked at the average server assistant salary and compared it with the wages of a food runner. Generally speaking, food runners are paid $118 lower than server assistants per year.While their salaries may differ, the common ground between server assistants and food runners are a few of the skills required in each roleacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities. In both careers, employee duties involve skills like cleanliness, wine, and exceptional dining.

While similarities exist, there are also some differences between server assistants and food runner. For instance, server assistant responsibilities require skills such as "reservations," "service stations," "ruby," and "good communication." Whereas a food runner is skilled in "safety standards," "reset tables," "garnish," and "food delivery." This is part of what separates the two careers.

Food runners tend to make the most money working in the hospitality industry, where they earn an average salary of $26,747. In contrast, server assistants make the biggest average salary, $25,283, in the hospitality industry.On average, food runners reach similar levels of education than server assistants. Food runners are 0.1% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.0% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Server assistant vs. Food runner/busser

A food runner or busser is an employee who works at a restaurant to provide quality food services to customers and patrons. Food runners or bussers perform food preparation and ensure that foods are delivered promptly to the appropriate customers' tables. In case the bar server is busy, food runners or bussers may take the drink orders of customers at the bar counter. They also make sure that tables are bussed, cleaned, and set up for the next paying customers.

On average, food runner/bussers earn a $2,923 higher salary than server assistants a year.While the salary may differ for these jobs, they share a few skills needed to perform their duties. Based on resume data, both server assistants and food runner/bussers have skills such as "cleanliness," "wine," and "exceptional dining. "

In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, server assistant responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "reservations," "service stations," "ruby," and "customer satisfaction." Meanwhile, a food runner/busser has duties that require skills in areas such as "food delivery," "quality service," "table numbers," and "barback." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.

Food runner/bussers earn a higher average salary than server assistants. But food runner/bussers earn the highest pay in the hospitality industry, with an average salary of $28,816. Additionally, server assistants earn the highest salaries in the hospitality with average pay of $25,283 annually.food runner/bussers earn similar levels of education than server assistants in general. They're 0.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Server assistant 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.

On average scale, room service servers bring in higher salaries than server assistants. In fact, they earn a $1,063 higher salary per year.Using the responsibilities included on server assistants and room service servers resumes, we found that both professions have similar skill requirements, such as "cleanliness," "wine," and "customer service.rdquo;

The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, server assistants are more likely to have skills like "reservations," "service stations," "ruby," and "exceptional dining." But a room service server is more likely to have skills like "guest rooms," "in-room," "cash handling," and "guest service."

Room service servers earn the highest salary when working in the hospitality industry, where they receive an average salary of $26,687. Comparatively, server assistants have the highest earning potential in the hospitality industry, with an average salary of $25,283.When it comes to education, room service servers tend to earn similar degree levels compared to server assistants. In fact, they're 0.1% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Server assistant 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.

Dining room servers tend to earn a higher pay than server assistants by an average of $3,886 per year.According to resumes from server assistants and dining room servers, some of the skills necessary to complete the responsibilities of each role are similar. These skills include "cleanliness," "wine," and "exceptional dining. "

Even though a few skill sets overlap between server assistants and dining room servers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a server assistant might have more use for skills like "reservations," "service stations," "ruby," and "seat guests." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of dining room servers require skills like "senior care," "meal service," "team work," and "basic math. "

The hospitality industry tends to pay the highest salaries for dining room servers, with average annual pay of $29,758. Comparatively, the highest server assistant annual salary comes from the hospitality industry.dining room servers reach similar levels of education compared to server assistants, in general. The difference is that they're 0.6% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.0% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of server assistant

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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