Anthony
How much money can I make if I work at a restaurant?
I think that I want to work during college to make more money. I never worked at a restaurant before but I know that you make most of your money from the tips. So if you work at a restaurant part time while you are doing your college work can you please tell me how much money you think you would make? #money #college-advice #hospitality #restaurant
5 answers
Joe Peterson
Joe’s Answer
This depends on the position and time in service. Entry level jobs for back of house generally start around $12 per hour and go up to about $25. Time in service will definitely help raise the hourly wage.
Hi Mr. Peterson. What do you mean by jobs for back of house? Thank you for your help and advice
Anthony
Michele Pack FASE RDCS RVT
Michele’s Answer
I worked my way through college in the food industry. Perfect flexible hours with good money
I found that fine dining required more time to make good money and working in a more touristy place tended to make more. Remember, your tips are based on their check so if the check is higher and they are there less time that = more money. Fine dinning takes more money and is less fun than say, a Hard Rock or something like that. You can make more money in less hours serving cocktails for instance (and perhaps eventually bar tending) but cannot easily serve alcohol until 21.
Another great option which is really nice money and flexible is serving at a hotel, especially brunches and banquets. Back when I did it I was paid more than minimum wage, had full benefits, and the banquets supplemented the restaurant work with flat rates of about $300-$400 for one night (That was a long time ago, hopefully it is more now!)
Also, it depends what part of the country you are in as far as how much you will make in tips (people in bigger cities tend to tip higher in general)
Good Luck!
Varun Arora
Varun’s Answer
Often it is minimum wage and tips. But depends on the restaurant. If you are talking about fine wining and dining, you can make upto about $20/hr - but you need to have the necessary experience and skills for it. Which is most likely not the case with college students.
Thank you Mr. Arora. I don't know if I can get a job at a fine wining and dining restaurant. Maybe it depends where I go to college?
Anthony
Jackie DeCicco
Jackie’s Answer
The service industry is a tough one when dealing with difficult guests; however, can still be a fun job especially because you're always doing something and are always on the move whether its taking orders, entering orders, cleaning up side-work, helping other co-workers, making food, clearing food, etc,.
You can also make a fair amount of money to keep you going through college, especially when working in more upscale restaurants with more expensive food. This means people are going to tip are larger amount due to their total amount due by the end of the night. If you're not someone who works well on their feet, or carrying items, it may not be the best job for you but is a great experience in getting your foot in the door for job experience. Many businesses find restaurant jobs a positive experience because you are working with people and constantly multitasking which is an impressive skill to master.
What's also great about this industry is that there are plenty of restaurants constantly hiring those in need of experience!
Jackie recommends the following next steps:
Laura Jaspers
Laura’s Answer
This could vary greatly depending on the role that you occupy. I held many different roles in my tenure, food server/cook/bartender/manager... I found that the roles where I was engaged with the public, specifically serving them, gave me the opportunity to interact with others and create an experience for them, leading to big tips that far outweighed my salary!