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Server Resume Examples

A restaurant server resume example with sales figures, summaries from host to lead server, the POS and service skills restaurants ask for, and certifications.

What has to be at the top

A restaurant server resume leads with the kind of restaurant and how much you handle there: the dining style, your section or covers a shift, and a sales figure such as check average. Your food handler card and any alcohol service certification come next, along with the POS you know, so a manager can see you are ready to work a shift.

The full example

A complete server resume example

Every section filled in for a typical candidate. Switch the layout to see the same content on each template, download it, or open it in the editor and replace the details with yours.

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Why this example works

  • The headline says Restaurant Server and the first bullet gives section size and covers, so neither a keyword search nor a hiring manager mistakes this for an IT job.
  • Sales carry the page: weekly sales, and a check average set against the floor average, are the figures a general manager already compares servers by.
  • Both certifications appear twice, in the last line of the summary and in their own section, so a manager checking for them finds them without reading the jobs.
  • Host and expo shifts get one short bullet. They show range without pulling the page away from serving.

The server resume example as text

The same content as the sheet above, readable without zooming, so you can copy any line.

Gabriela Soto
Restaurant Server, Casual and Upscale Dining

Denver, COgabriela.soto@email.com(555) 018-3357

Summary

Restaurant server with six years in casual and upscale dining, now working a 7-table section at a 180-seat steakhouse. Averages $9,800 in weekly sales and sells the most wine by the bottle on the floor. ServSafe Food Handler and TIPS certified.

Experience
Server — Ember & Oak SteakhouseApr 2022 – Present
  • Serve a 6- to 7-table section, about 30 guests a night, in a 180-seat steakhouse doing 400 Saturday covers.
  • Average $9,800 in weekly sales over four dinner shifts; check average $94 against a floor average of $81.
  • Top server for wine sold by the bottle in 8 months of 2025, using pairings from the chef's tasting notes.
  • Train new servers on the menu, the POS and steps of service; all 9 trained so far passed the menu test.
Server — Juniper Street DinerSep 2020 – Mar 2022
  • Ran a 5-table section and the counter at a 90-seat breakfast diner, turning tables in about 40 minutes.
  • Covered host and expo on short-staffed weekends.
Education
High School Diploma, George Washington High SchoolAug 2016 – May 2020
Licenses and certifications
  • ServSafe Food Handler, National Restaurant Association, Feb 2025
  • TIPS On-Premise, TIPS, Mar 2025
Skills

Toast POS, OpenTable, Steps of service, Wine and food pairing, Suggestive selling, Allergy and dietary orders, Cash and card payments, Private events, Reading a table, Calm on a full section, Teamwork with the kitchen

Languages

English (Native), Spanish (Fluent)

Illustrative. Not a real person and not a real employer.

Summaries

Server resume summary examples by experience level

The summary is the part of a resume that changes most as a career goes on. The same job at three stages, and what each stage leads with.

  • First serving job, from host or busser

    Restaurant host with a year at a 120-seat family restaurant, seating up to 400 guests on a Saturday and running the waitlist on a tablet. Has covered more than 30 shifts as a busser and knows the menu, the POS and the opening side work. Food handler card current.

    Hosting, bussing and running food are the usual way onto the floor. Give the numbers from those shifts and show you already know how service works.

  • Experienced server

    Server with four years at a high-volume brunch and dinner restaurant, carrying a 6-table section and about 25 tables a shift on weekends. Keeps a 4.8 average on guest surveys that name the server, and has the team's best dessert add-on rate at 31% of checks.

    Once you have a few years, sales and guest scores lead. Use two numbers your restaurant already reports and set them against the floor.

  • Lead server or captain

    Lead server and trainer with ten years in fine dining, four of them at a 70-seat tasting-menu restaurant. Trains every new front-of-house hire on steps of service and wine, and runs the pre-shift lineup. Holds the WSET Level 2 Award in Wines. Ready for a captain or floor manager role.

    At this level the proof is the people you trained and the part of service you run, backed by a wine qualification.

Skills

Skills for a server resume

Restaurant postings name a POS, weekend availability and food safety or alcohol training, so list the POS you have used and give the certifications a section of their own. Write "restaurant server" at least once: in a keyword search the word server on its own also matches IT jobs.

Hard skills

Service

  • Steps of service
  • Table maintenance
  • Order accuracy
  • Menu knowledge
  • Wine service

Sales

  • Suggestive selling
  • Wine pairing
  • Dessert and add-on sales

Systems and safety

  • Toast POS
  • Aloha POS
  • OpenTable
  • Food allergen awareness
  • Cash handling
  • Responsible alcohol service

Soft skills

  • Hospitality
  • Multitasking
  • Attention to detail
  • Teamwork
  • Stamina
  • Reading guests

Name two or three of these in the skills section at most. They count for more when a bullet shows one at work.

Bullet points

Server resume bullet points, before and after

Five lines as people first write them, and the same lines rewritten so the result comes last, where the eye lands. The numbers are illustrative; use your own.

  • Took orders and served food.

    Took orders for a 5-table section of 20 to 25 tables a shift and entered every modification in the POS; kitchen remakes on the section fell to about one a week.

  • Upsold menu items.

    Offered a starter and a dessert at every table during a four-week sales contest and raised the section's check average from $38 to $45, the highest on the floor.

  • Handled guest complaints.

    Settled complaints at the table whenever a remake or a dessert would fix them instead of calling a manager each time; comped items on the section halved in one quarter.

  • Worked large parties.

    Served private parties of 20 to 60 guests in the event room, timing courses with the kitchen, and was requested by name for 11 repeat bookings in 2025.

  • Knew about food allergies.

    Walked guests through the allergens in every dish and flagged each allergy ticket to the kitchen, with no allergy incidents on the section in three years.

Starting every bullet with the same verb? Synonyms for overused resume words →

These bullets are waiting in the editor

When you write your experience in our CV builder, pick "Example phrases" under a job and add the server bullets from this page in one click. Every number is left as [X], so the figures on your CV are your own.

Beyond experience

Restaurant server certifications

A server needs no license, but some states, counties and restaurants require food safety or alcohol training before you work a shift, and the rules differ from place to place. Check which card the posting asks for and list it with the month you earned it.

  • ServSafe Food Handler

    A food safety course and assessment from the National Restaurant Association with no prerequisite, and the online assessment needs no proctor. Where your state or county requires a food handler card, check that it accepts this one before you rely on it.

    Issued by National Restaurant Association (ServSafe)

  • TIPS On-Premise

    Alcohol training for anyone who serves drinks where they are consumed, from bartenders to security staff. It covers preventing intoxication and underage drinking, which is what a manager wants settled before you carry drinks to a table.

    Issued by TIPS

  • ServSafe Alcohol

    The National Restaurant Association's alcohol program, offered at two levels. The Primary online exam needs no proctor and the Advanced exam must be proctored; either one belongs on the resume of a server in a restaurant with a bar.

    Issued by National Restaurant Association (ServSafe)

  • WSET Level 2 Award in Wines

    Worth it where the wine list is a large part of the check. There are no entry requirements, and the qualification ends in a one-hour, closed-book exam of 50 multiple-choice questions. It is the line that moves a server toward captain or sommelier work.

    Issued by Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET)

  • State alcohol server permits

    Some states run their own mandatory certification for alcohol servers. Write it with the state and the expiry month, so a manager can see at once that it is current.

    Issued by your state's alcohol control agency

How to list certifications on a resume →

Template

Which template to use for a server resume

Modern. Restaurant hiring often happens in person: you hand a printed resume to a manager, or the manager prints the one you sent before a short talk on the floor. Modern suits that reader, with contact details, POS and service skills and languages in a sidebar next to the serving history. For a restaurant group that takes applications through an online system, switch to Basic, which downloads free without a watermark.

What makes a template ATS-friendly →See all templates filled in →

Server resume questions

What should a server put on a resume?

Each restaurant with its type and size (casual, fine dining, a 150-seat brunch spot), your section and covers a shift, one or two sales figures such as check average, the POS you know, and your food handler or alcohol certification. Evening and weekend availability can go in the summary when the posting asks for it.

How do I make serving look good on a resume?

Treat it as the sales and service job it is: give weekly sales, check average, add-on rates or guest scores, and name the work beyond your own section, such as training new hires or working private events. Those numbers still count if you later apply for a job outside restaurants.

Which server duties should go on a resume?

Taking orders, entering them in the POS, serving food and drinks, checking allergies, running payments and side work are the duties every manager already knows. Mention them once or let the job title imply them, and spend the bullets on what you did well within them, with a number attached.

How do I write a server resume with no experience?

Start with any job where you served people or worked on your feet: host, busser, barista, cashier, event staff. Put your food handler card near the top and say which days and shifts you can work. Apply for host and busser openings too, since they put you on a restaurant floor while you learn.

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