Food Runner Job Description, Skills, and Salary
Are you searching for a food runner job description? Get to know about the duties, responsibilities, qualifications, and skills requirements of a food runner. Feel free to use our food runner job description template to produce your own food runner job description. We also provide you with information about the salary you can earn as a food runner.
Who is a Food Runner?
A Food Runner assists a server in delivering meals and beverages to assigned tables. A food runner may operate in a crowded restaurant, particularly during peak dining hours. They often take orders from customers and deliver their meals in small eateries. In big restaurants, some businesses hire food runners who may be in charge of delivering ordered food and taking care of other tasks like obtaining beverages for customers.
Food runners work in bars, restaurants, or catering businesses to ensure that customers receive the correct orders on time. They collaborate closely with servers and kitchen workers to keep the expediting counter open for new orders.
Food Runners welcome visitors, give them menus and explain things on the menu since servers are frequently busy caring for other tables.
Food runners clean trays and tray holders after each usage, move dishes from the counter to serving trays and arrange meals on the table in front of the proper customers. They may also engage with customers who want drink refills or more menu items and accept orders when the waiters are unavailable.
A food runner does not handle orders and payments. They facilitate the quick delivery of orders to customers. In some restaurants, this entails physically bringing the meal to the table from the kitchen. Even though it might seem straightforward, it is a crucial task that guarantees a seamless and effective operation. When the meal is delivered, the food runner may also ask the client whether everything is intact before bringing any other order.
Food runners may advance to other positions like waiter or waitress. They might later decide to work as receptionists or restaurant managers if they are more educated or have undergone training.
Food Runner Job Description
What is a food runner job description? A food runner job description is simply a list of duties and responsibilities of a food runner in an organization. Below are the food runner job description examples you can use to develop your resume or write a food runner job description for your employee. Employers can also use it to sieve out job seekers when choosing candidates for interviews.
The duties and responsibilities of the food runner include the following:
- Assist in preparing tables for service by providing the proper utensils, napkins, and decorations.
- Assist kitchen staff and waiters when necessary to ensure kitchen maintenance, the best level of food quality, presentation, and customer experience.
- Carry out closing responsibilities correctly at the end of each shift.
- Check on customers to ensure they are satisfied with the service.
- Complete all work responsibilities while following all safety rules and procedures during the shift.
- Help all wait staff, bartenders, and management carry plates.
- Communicate with customers and co-workers pleasantly and competently.
- Foster teamwork by following instructions and working peacefully with colleagues.
- Forward reports of customer satisfaction to management and relevant parties.
- Garnish completed meals following house guidelines and practices.
- Inform the chef or another management on the duty of any dangerous conditions, unsafe acts, accidents, and injuries.
- Supply customers with necessary tableware so they may perfectly enjoy their cuisine.
- Manage various unplanned customer requirements.
- Update yourself with all meal menus, including takeout to answer customers when they ask.
- Deliver the meal and ensure the guests have everything they need on the tables, such as the appropriate silverware, napkins, and share plates.
- Keep the kitchen area tidy and orderly.
- Inform the cooks of meal orders, being mindful of any particular instructions or deadlines e.g, food allergies
- Perform under pressure with composure and efficiency.
- Maintain a log of all orders’ cooking times and inspects the final product for appropriate doneness, appearance, and plate presentation.
Qualifications
- High school diploma, GED, or its equivalent
- Bachelor’s degree (optional)
- Physically fit
- Certification in food handling or its equivalent (optional)
Essential Skills
In the food service sector, most servers begin as food runners. Some of the skills that are common and required for the role are:
- Cleanup
- Cooking
- Detail-oriented
- Customer Service
- Efficiency
- Menu Knowledge
- Exceptional Communication Skills
- Well-Mannered
- Tidiness
- Plating
- Professionalism
- Multitasking
- Speed
- Team Member
Cleanup
Cleanup, in this context, involves clearing the tables and washing the dishes after a customer’s meal. It is crucial for food runners to be able to clean tables, clear plates, and conduct other cleaning-related chores because they frequently clean tools as part of their job.
Food runners should also know how to clean basic kitchen appliances like sinks and dishwashers in case they need to assist the kitchen staff with cleanup at the end of a shift.
Cooking
Food runners must be capable of cooking and dishwashing. They are not the original people who cook meals in restaurants. However, they join in peak situations when there is a staff shortage and the kitchen needs more hands.
Cooking also entails the ability to use several kitchen tools, such as ovens, stoves, mixers, and blenders. Food runners must be able to read recipes to understand the components required for each dish. Additionally, they must know fundamental cooking methods including boiling, baking, and sautéing.
Detail-oriented
The food runner is in charge of managing the food distribution to client tables. The food runner is responsible for determining if the meal meets restaurant standards because they are often the last to handle the food. Since they may have a quick glimpse at the plate, this requires a strong eye for detail. It also requires a keen eye for detail to recognize which diner in the establishment needs assistance, such as a drink refill.
Customer Service
Food runners must treat restaurant customers with respect. By ensuring that patrons’ meals are cooked to their preferences, that they enjoy their meals, and that patrons generally have a positive dining experience, they support visitors’ customer service needs.
Similar to how servers engage with customers, food runners also do so. For the runner’s responsibilities, it is crucial to have a pleasant demeanor and outstanding customer service abilities. Even during peak hours, the voice tone, attitude, and demeanor should all remain kind.
Efficiency
Efficiency is frequently emphasized in a job description for a food runner as one of the requirements. This refers to doing runs successfully on the first try. The food runner should have everything ready on the first run rather than racing back and forth across the dining area.
Menu Knowledge
Guests are likely to question food runners, so they must prepare the responses. This is crucial when responding to inquiries regarding the menu or the food brought to the table. Any query should be able to be answered by a skilled food runner.
Organization
The ability to schedule and handle several tasks can be called an organizational skill.
It takes a certain amount of organization to be a successful food runner. One key to staying organized is understanding which tasks to complete and when. This is crucial since most food runners operate in a fast-paced setting with little margin for mistakes.
Exceptional Communication Skills
A seamless operation requires open communication between the kitchen crew, server, and food runner. A food runner can mediate the situation and relay any emerging problems. Food running requires interaction with colleagues and customers, so one has to have exceptional communication skills to pass messages correctly and to prevent sending customers away.
Well-Mannered
Food runners need to understand the fundamentals of good manners. It entails paying close attention, maintaining eye contact, smiling, and acting politely even when under pressure. Each employee should get training on the standards for providing excellent customer service.
Tidiness
Guests want anybody handling their meal to look neat. A food runner should dress appropriately and look clean. It includes a tidy uniform and body, hairstyle, smelling good, and demeanor. The food runner is also responsible for maintaining the dining room’s cleanliness and order. The food runner should know without being told they need to clean a space immediately after a customer is done with the meal and leaves the table.
Plating
Placing food on a plate is known as plating. Food runners must be able to present meals on the plate in a style that appeals to clients. Making food look appealing entails utilizing garnishes, sauces, and other ornamental components. To properly plate the food, food runners must also be aware of how much food to serve per individual.
Professionalism
Throughout their work, food runners are to act professionally at all times. They frequently engage with customers of the business because they are a customer-facing staff. When working as a food runner, it is crucial to maintain composure and act professionally, even when the restaurant is crowded, and the employee feels overburdened.
Multitasking
Food runners may manage their jobs effectively and efficiently if they have excellent multitasking abilities. Food runners frequently have to go back and forth between several responsibilities. A food runner’s productivity and efficiency at work will grow with good multitasking skills because it guarantees they handle all their tasks.
Speed
Food runners must be adept at moving swiftly and effectively. They find their way around the establishment, where the food is kept, and which tables are in their sector. By doing this, they can deliver the meal to the appropriate table as soon as feasible. Food runners must have strong body awareness and balance since they hold numerous plates.
Team Member
Any restaurant’s success depends on the teamwork of the whole workforce. Food runners connect with the waitstaff and kitchen staff to provide the best service so they can deliver meals to the customers without a hitch. The restaurant management is in charge of explaining how they will share these responsibilities among all staff members.
How to Become a Food Runner
Food running is a straightforward job and involves using the hands. Anyone can become a food runner, as long as such a person acquires the basic skills necessary for the role. It is also the type of job one can learn while working. However, one may need to watch out for prerequisites to become a food runner. They are as follows:
Step 1: Get an Education
Candidates for food runner roles are frequently required to have a high school diploma or an equivalent. Some eateries may employ people who are still in high school.
Some food runners decide to pursue a degree in food services, hospitality, or a similar area, either at the associate or bachelor’s level. Even though it’s not usually necessary, having a higher degree will help you stand out from the competition when you seek jobs as a food runner and it will give the person an opportunity for advancement to being a waiter or managerial role in the food industry in the long run.
Step 2: Improve Physical Stamina
A food runner must continually carry heavy trays and platters throughout the shift. Food runners must be able to move quickly to and from tables because they spend a lot of time on their feet. It is crucial to work on increasing your physical stamina if you want to meet the standards to become a food runner.
Step 3: Gain Experience
Some firms may require candidates for food runner positions to have prior experience working in a restaurant or hospitality environment. Dishwasher, barista, host or hostess, and food expeditor are a few positions that can help you gain this marketing.
Where to Work as a Food Runner
Food runners work in all kinds of restaurants, bars, and other places where they serve food. Both upscale dining establishments and neighborhood diners employ them. Food runners typically work at a restaurant’s busiest times to ensure prompt meal service. This allows the wait staff to serve more customers and earn more tips, which increases the runner’s earnings. The busy period of a restaurant, which is often lunch, evening, or both, determines the hours a food runner works.
Food running is a physically demanding profession because employees are on their feet the whole shift.
Food Runner Salary Scale
A food runner’s pay may differ according to their degree of experience, the size of the restaurant they work for, and the location they reside, among other considerations.
In the US, a Food Runner makes an average salary of $25,277 per year. According to ZipRecruiter, their yearly wages in the United States range from $11,000 to $44,000.
According to Talent.com, the average food runner pay in the UK is £22,425 per year or £11.50 per hour. More experienced ones earn up to £25,350 yearly, while entry-level roles start at £21,450.
In Canada, the typical food runner earns CA$30,381 a year, or $15.58 per hour. Most experienced professionals may earn up to CA$36,836 per year, while entry-level roles start at CA$28,275.
In Germany, a food runner makes an average annual wage of €28,965, or about $14 per hour.
In Australia, food runners make an average of AU$56,527 a year, whereas, in Ireland, they make an average of €19,246 a year, according to Indeed.