How to Create a Job-Winning Restaurant Manager Resume

Olutumo Bose

Former HR Manager and Writing Professional

---

You can manage customer needs, take on administrative responsibilities, and effectively lead your staff. But can you write a job-winning resume? If you’re a restaurant manager looking for a new job, grab your pen and paper as we reveal the secrets to writing a convincing restaurant manager resume.   

Restaurants are considered great get-away spots for unwinding and trying out new meals, but what makes a restaurant worth visiting depends on you… its manager. Being a restaurant manager goes beyond knowing how to prepare sumptuous delicacies. It involves skills such as hospitality, customer service, monitoring day-to-day restaurant operations, ensuring accountability, and more.

Because the success of the restaurant rests on your shoulders, you’ll have to prove yourself via your restaurant manager resume. Whether it’s your first time applying or you have years of experience, it is necessary to impress hiring managers if you want to land that job. This article will lend you a restaurant manager resume template, while also providing some tips to help draft different resumes for several job applications.

Restaurant Manager Resume Sample

There are many generic resumes for restaurant managers on the internet. However, we decided to customize and build a restaurant’s manager resume sample so you can get a grasp on how to sell yourself.

Disclaimer: All personal info on this sample Restaurant Manager resume is fictitious and does not represent any individual or organization.

Rebecca Benson
Restaurant Manager
Tallahassee, Florida | (850)465-7564 | RebeccaBenson@gmail.com


A profit-driven Restaurant Manager with 6+ years of experience managing fast-paced five-star restaurants. Certified Hospitality Personnel and Food Science Technologist. Ability to train staff that prioritizes customer service, ensuring increased customer satisfaction and a 90%-rise in sales through upselling techniques. Aiming to use my formidable leadership skills and proven track record of expertise to assist restaurants and achieve new levels of profitability and efficiency.

---

SKILLS
Oral and Written Communication Skills
Interpersonal Skills
Leadership and Management Skills
Organizational Skills
Administrative Skills
Menu Planning
Social Media Management
Food Health and Safety

WORK EXPERIENCE

Contract Restaurant Manager
ThePlace Restaurant and Bar
New York, New York
January 2021-January 2022

Hired, trained, and coached over 45 staff members on customer service skills and food and beverage ethics. 
Maintained strict adherence to COVID-19 safety regulations before and after the restaurant’s grand opening.
Monitored food and drink (local and foreign) supplies from trusted vendors.
Consistently exceeded monthly sales goals by 30% via training staff on upselling techniques and creating a featured food and beverage program.
Introduced new meals, redesigned the food/drink menu, and ensured customers gained value for every penny.
Assistant Restaurant Manager
Rose Bell Restaurant
Miami, Florida
June 2018-December 2020

Promoted healthy eating online campaigns to boost the company's online blueprint.  
Maintained an employee retention rate of 25% higher than the industry standard through management training programs, periodic performance reviews, and motivational coaching sessions. 
Recorded a 25% increase in the profit margin of food items by switching to suppliers with high-quality ingredients for lower costs
Pushed the company from a 3-star low-budget restaurant to a 5-star luxury restaurant within two years of working. 
Increased customer retention through excellent customer service, providing more tasty meals and creating a conducive environment for relaxation. 
EDUCATION

Keystone Culinary School
Keystone, Florida 
June 2012- April 2013
Earned certification in Food Safety, Food Plating, and Seasonal Menu Planning 
University of Miami
Miami, Florida
Bachelor of Science in Nutrition and Food Science
August 2009 - May 2012

AWARDS
Most Caution Bar Attendant of the Year, The Chalet Food Hub - 2016

ASSOCIATIONS
National Association of Food Science Students (NAFSS)
Institute of Hospitality Management (IHM)

LANGUAGES
English (Native)
Spanish (Advanced)

Now you have seen a customized sample restaurant management resume, let’s show you how to tailor yours in less than five minutes. 

How to Tailor Your Restaurant Manager Resume

Begin with a Header

Like the restaurant manager resume sample above, the header should include personal deets like:

• Full name
• City/State
• Telephone Number
• Email Address
• LinkedIn Profile (Optional)
• Link to Professional Work (Optional)

** Note: Be sure to avoid nicknames or company phone numbers and email addresses

Add a Professional Summary

The summary statement gives hiring managers a brief outline of your skill-set, qualifications, and strengths. While this section needs to be concise, it also needs to have enough information to propel hiring managers to review the other parts of your resume. Using only a few sentences, summarize your award-winning professional biography as they relate to the position in question. 

Include the skills listed on the job ad to capture hiring managers’ attention. Write in first person and refrain from using pronouns, such as “I”, “My”, “Them”, etc. Take a look at the following examples below for reference.

Wrong.

I am an experienced chef who would love to join your restaurant. I possess an elaborate skill-set, such as management and food art. I am also resilient and enthusiastic about satisfying customers. I am a resident of the country and eager to start immediately.

Right.

A hard-working Restaurant Manager with 4+ years of experience managing five-star restaurants. Proficient in hospitality management and food artistry. Ability to coach staff, ensuring increased customer satisfaction. Aiming to use my formidable leadership skills and proven track record of expertise to assist restaurants, achieve new levels of profitability and efficiency.

Think of Exceptional Restaurant Manager Resume Skills

In addition to a captivating professional summary, your resume should include a core skills section that distinguishes you from the crowd. You can divide your skills into two sections: soft and hard skills. It is important to know that companies always specify the restaurant manager resume skills they need. So, pay attention to every detail in the job description. While you should not just stuff this section with any old skill, be sure to include a good mix of skills on the job description and skills that aren’t.  

Chart Your Growth in the Industry

This section of your restaurant manager resume gives the hiring manager a picture of your career journey and achievements. It is also known as the ‘Experience Section’, which describes past restaurant management responsibilities.

When writing this section, quantify your achievements using numbers. As mentioned earlier, being a restaurant manager goes beyond guaranteeing customer satisfaction. Employers value specificity and measurable accomplishments. They want to know that you understand numbers, such as profits and losses, employee turnover, and customer retention. Using numbers to substantiate your claims also depicts that you’re a result-oriented restaurant manager. But don’t forget to use bullet points to separate each paragraph.

See examples below for better clarity:

Right.

Recorded a 25% increase in the profit margin of food items by switching to suppliers with high-quality ingredients for lower costs.
Trained twelve interns on restaurant management and how to use electronic equipment, such as POS, mixer, ice-cream maker, ovens, etc.
Prepared recipes and menus for the general and VIP sections of the restaurant.

Wrong.

I was responsible for taking orders, physically and virtually, and effecting swift delivery of packages.
I ensured workers had a safe working environment.
I used MS Office tools to prepare quarterly reports to track down progress.

Talk About Your Education

What should your Education Section look like in a restaurant manager resume?

Look at the restaurant manager resume sample above to understand how to write and format your document’s Education Section. This section is usually at the bottom of your resume, so hiring managers first read about your professional experience. Start by listing the degree earned, the institution’s name, its location, and then the study duration. 

If you are a recent college graduate, then your resume would be formatted a little differently. Your resume would likely lead with a Header, Summary, then your Education and Skills Sections. Nonetheless, your education section would still be formatted the same.

Add Extra Sections

For a position like this, you could be contending with at least 50 other applicants, all of which could have similar skills and years of experience. So, how do you stand out? Add extra sections to your resume! You can include some volunteer roles or certifications/awards you have earned. These sections make your resume less basic, more sophisticated, and help you appear to be a well-rounded candidate.

Do’s And Don’ts For Your Restaurant Manager Resume

You’re likely to apply to different food/drink restaurants. So, here are rules to guide you through creating different restaurant manager resume samples. 

Final Words

Resume writing is a necessary skill for every job seeker. You don’t have to rely on different sample restaurant manager resumes every time you come across a new job posting. Instead, create a restaurant manager resume template, tailor it for each job ad, and be in charge of your career.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCE ALERT: If you need a little more help with resume writing, then check out resume writing tips for a general manager resume. ‘General Manager’ is just a more general title for a Restaurant Manager, so additional help may be found below.

Create a General Manager Resume in 5 Simple Steps

10 Restaurant Chains Hiring Restaurant Managers

As restaurants are beginning to regain a little steam since the pandemic first started, there are restaurant chains across the country looking to bring their restaurants back to glory. If you are ready to tackle such as challenging task, then here are 10 restaurants hiring restaurant managers.