Server Salary

A server is the member of the service staff at a bar or restaurant who focuses on taking the orders of customers, submitting them to the kitchen staff, the delivering the food to the customers. Once the meal is finished, the server usually takes away the used dishes and settles the bill with the customer. The phrase is a more politically correct term for a waiter or waitress.

In addition to these primary functions, they may also perform any other jobs that need completed in the restaurant, including cleaning duties, rolling silverware, and helping to prepare the restaurant for business prior to opening.

There is no formal education needed to become a server. Most restaurants do require you to have a high school diploma and experience working in the field. Many servers will hold multiple jobs in the field, working up to nicer and nicer restaurants over time.

There are certain legal requirements for certain dinging establishments that primarily revolve around alcohol. In many areas, you must be over a certain age to serve alcohol to customers. This include carrying a glass containing alcohol from a bar to a table. Many establishments that sell alcohol may require you be a certain age due to these limitations.

A server's base rate of pay is not where they will be making a majority of their money. Gratuity is normally added onto the bill, which the service staff keeps. A server can make anywhere from nothing up to $500 + a shift depending on the establishment. Gratuity tends to be between 10 percent and 25 percent, depending on the area and the type of restaurant.

The base pay for a server is between $2.50 and $8.00 an hour. This makes the average server salary range, excluding tips and gratuity, between $5,000 and $16,000 annually. These figures are representative of a 40 hours work week, and most servers do not work a full 40 hours.

Being a server can provide a living wage without a full 40 hours work week if you work in the right places. Many people will wind up working in the food service industry at some point in time or another, while others may make a career out of it. During school years is the most common time people spend working as a server.

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