Waitress Vs Barista

The differences between waitresses and baristas can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a barista has an average salary of $29,528, which is higher than the $24,770 average annual salary of a waitress.

The top three skills for a waitress include food orders, food preparation and customer orders. The most important skills for a barista are cash handling, food products, and punctuality.

Waitress vs barista overview

	Waitress	Barista
Yearly Salary	$24,770	$29,528
Hourly rate	$11.91	$14.20
Growth Rate	10%	14%
Number Of Jobs	87,315	93,290
Job Satisfaction	-	-
Most Common Degree	High School Diploma, 36%	Bachelor's Degree, 43%
Average Age	28	23
Years Of Experience	-	-

What does a Waitress do?

Waitresses are responsible for ensuring that guests are given proper attention during their visit to the restaurant. They guide guests to their table, provide menu boards, answer any questions the guests may have, take the guests' order, and communicate the order to the kitchen. Once the order is ready, waitresses collect the food from the kitchen and serve it to the guests. They then give guests time to finish their meal. Upon the guests' request, waitresses bring them their bill and wait for them to finish paying up. Once the guests leave, waitresses are responsible for ensuring that the table is ready for the next guests.

What does a barista do?

Baristas are employees who work on assembling drinks available in the restaurant cafe. They are expected to be familiar with the menu offerings related to non-alcoholic beverages, such as coffee, tea, or chocolate, available in the restaurant. They are also expected to be familiar with the ingredients needed to make such drinks. They are in charge of managing the inventory and ensuring that the ingredients needed are readily available. Baristas are also expected to be able to make drinks in a quick yet accurate manner.

Waitress vs barista salary

Waitresses and baristas have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Waitress	Barista
Average Salary	$24,770	$29,528
Salary Range	Between $17,000 And $35,000	Between $22,000 And $38,000
Highest Paying City	Washington, DC	Portland, ME
Highest Paying State	New York	Maine
Best Paying Company	New York Institute of Technology	St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Best Paying Industry	Hospitality	Retail

Differences between waitress and barista education

There are a few differences between a waitress and a barista in terms of educational background:

	Waitress	Barista
Most Common Degree	High School Diploma, 36%	Bachelor's Degree, 43%
Most Common Major	Business	Business
Most Common College	-	-

Waitress vs barista demographics

Here are the differences between waitresses' and baristas' demographics:

	Waitress	Barista
Average Age	28	23
Gender Ratio	Male, 19.9% Female, 80.1%	Male, 30.3% Female, 69.7%
Race Ratio	Black or African American, 11.9% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 20.2% Asian, 8.6% White, 53.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 9.6% Unknown, 6.9% Hispanic or Latino, 18.6% Asian, 6.5% White, 57.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage	6%	8%

Differences between waitress and barista duties and responsibilities

Waitress Example Responsibilities.

Manage a recurring book of business of top VIP clients secure through networking.
Relay orders to bar and kitchen by quickly and accurately recording guest selections and keying them into the POS computer system.
wait tables, handle money, exceed guest expectations, serve food and drinks, micros, clean, side work.
Increase store sales by upselling merchandise.
Enter order/payment information into micros system, deliver receipt and change to the customer.
Bring wine selections to tables with appropriate glasses, and pour the wines for customers.

Barista Example Responsibilities.

Used Microsoft excel and QuickBooks to manage payroll, receive orders and payments, create invoices and update customer accounts.
Supervise a team of employees and run store operations while
Provide excellent customer service, keep shop/equipment cleanliness, order/stocking of coffee/food/drink items.
Recognize by supervisors and customers for excellence in customer service, punctuality, and positive attitude.
Provide legendary customer service and cultivate relationships with customers all while creating handcraft beverages up to Starbucks standard.
Provide customers Starbucks quality service by interacting with customers, making quality beverages, and maintaining an excellent store environment.

Waitress vs barista skills

Common Waitress Skills

Food Orders, 13%
Food Preparation, 9%
Customer Orders, 8%
POS, 7%
Drink Orders, 5%
Customer Service, 5%

Common Barista Skills

Cash Handling, 27%
Food Products, 18%
Punctuality, 11%
Presentation Standards, 6%
Operational Policies, 4%
Customer Service, 3%

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Waitress vs Barista

Updated January 8, 2025

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