Restaurant Receptionist Job Description, Key Duties and Responsibilities

This post focuses on the job description of a restaurant receptionist, including the tasks, duties, and responsibilities they usually carry out.

What Does a Restaurant Receptionist Do?

A restaurant receptionist is the first person customers often meet when they walk into a restaurant.

He/she must be very friendly and professional in his/her approach because he/she makes the first impression customers will have about the restaurant once they step in.

The manner in which the receptionist attends to customers and visitors can influence their assessment of the restaurant.

The job description of the restaurant receptionist entails making sure that customers get the best services obtainable in the restaurant, and this begins from the moment they walk into the restaurant to when they leave.

He/she greets customers in a courteous and professional manner, welcomes them to the restaurant, and attends to their inquiries before handing them to a waiter who will take their orders.

The telephone is very important in the job of receptionists working at restaurants.

They are always by the phone to receive incoming calls with courtesy. They display confidence in communicating with callers, and answer their questions correctly.

The receptionist is well trained on phone etiquette to be able to handle phone conversations with clients in the most professional manner, even when under duress, to meet customers’ needs and satisfaction.

Scheduling client bookings is another responsibility of a restaurant’s receptionist; therefore, he/she must understand the booking system to a large extent.

He/she receives booking orders from clients, checks the records for availability of tables, and processes clients’ requests accordingly.

It is the duty of the receptionist to ensure that bookings are ready before the arrival of clients to avoid awkward situations of clients coming to meet no tables.

He/she informs diners of the number of customers waiting for tables, urging them to hurry up in order not to keep them waiting for long.

At the same time, he/she will plead with guests who are yet to get a table to be patient; while being calm when dealing with inpatient guests.

He/she is usually the first person customers go to when they have a problem in the restaurant.

The receptionist’s role therefore entails receiving clients’ complaints and forwarding them to the appropriate staff or department to resolve them.

Restaurant Receptionist Job Description Example/Sample/Template

Receptionists working in restaurants perform different tasks and responsibilities according to the particular needs of the firm.

Below is an example of the kind of job description usually handed to restaurant receptionists to execute in many organizations where they work:

• Draw up client bookings for tables and ensure that tables are set before clients’ arrival
• Manage the front desk by receiving incoming calls, greeting and attending to customers
• Inform guests about the availability of tables and direct them to the tables
• Keep records of guests who visit the restaurant
• Assist customers with answers to queries, and proffer solutions to issues within your capacity
• Collaborate with other restaurant staff and the management to ensure that customer complaints are properly attended to in a timely manner
• Ensure that clients make payment for services before they exit the restaurant
• Keep clear records of payments received and make detailed notes of balance payments
• Check restaurant’s emails and respond to them accordingly; draw the attention of management to certain mails when necessary
• Communicate with other staff, such as dinners, informing them of clients’ bookings, needs and complaints.

Download job description template.

Restaurant Receptionist Job Description for Resume

Resumes for the position of restaurant receptionist can be prepared using information from the job description sample above.

The duties, tasks, and responsibilities for the position stated above can be used, with some modifications, in creating the job history section of the resume.

This section proves to the employer your competence and experience for the job.

Restaurant Receptionist Qualities and Attributes

People aspiring to work as a receptionist in a restaurant should ensure to develop and possess the following attributes.

This is because employers usually require applicants for the position to have them.

• Excellent phone etiquette
• Excellent communication skills
• Multitasking ability
• Possess retentive memory to remember bookings
• Ability to pay attention to details
• Ability to maintain orderliness.

Restaurant Receptionist Resources

To help in making you a better restaurant receptionist and taking your career to the top, here are useful resources you can access:

Professional Organizations

Useful Blogs

Helpful Books