How much do they pay hosts at a restaurant?

[cchen]

I'm thinking of working at Outback Steakhouse part time this summer as a host, but I'm not sure how much money they are paid hourly. Anyone have any clue? And what kind of people do they look for?

 

[dOrKuS]

They'll probably pay $3.09 an hour plus tip-outs, or something like $6-$7.50 with no tip-outs.

My guess is they are looking for people that are push-overs and have no problem with working 10+ hours a day.
You want to give the impression that no matter what a customer says, you are going to take it.

good luck

 

[Schadenfreude]

Well, I worked as a waitor at Hackneys Irish Pub, "one of the top 25 restaurants in chicago", apparently (I didn't know that until recently) - which means it's a popular place, and it broke down like this:

As a waitor, yes I did make around $3.09 (min. wage minus adjustment for tip) + ~$10 bucks tip an hour, and as a host, I was making $8.00 an hour, no tips whatsoever. But being a host is so much easier and stress-free than being a waitor. Some of those customers, esp. the regulars, can get puchy sometimes and you have stand there and take it like a little ***** :disgust:

But it's a good experience overall, I'd say. Good luck!

 

[XxSuNSoOxX]

why host when u can make the most money being a server =D,, but yea host usually around 5-7 bux,

 

[bizmark]

It varies. Where I worked (a steakhouse similar to Outback), we got $4.50 per hour plus tipshare, which came out of 2% of every server's SALES (not tips -- even if they make bad tips they have to contribute to tipshare) and the tipshare was split between the bartender, hosts, and busboy. So I typically made better money than a server, because of the higher hourly wage plus on some good nights I would make $50 or so in tipshare, with a LOT less work than the servers. Sure you do kind of run your @ss off, but it's a lot easier nonetheless. Plus servers have to deal with people a lot more than hosts do, plus they had side-work to do and they could sit there on a slow day and only be seated 4 tables. Where I worked, hosts had to bus, but servers had to pre-bus, and every server had a 3 or 4 table station.

I know that there are other situations though. Some places are have an hourly wage, and the servers just tip you however much they see fit. Other places you get a set hourly wage. And everywhere that I know of, if you work there long enough, you will get a raise in your hourly pay. Some places have busboys all of the time, while at others the hosts do bussing except for busy nights like Fri. and Sat. when there's a busboy too. It all depends. Ask!

They look for people who look kind of nice, and if there's not a uniform (I don't think hosts at Outback have anything that they're supposed to wear) then you have to dress nicely too. Ability to talk to people and take care of things if they complain. Ability to keep cool under pressure and to BS your way out of tough situations and sweet-talk people when they start getting mad at the wait. But overall, it's not as sucking-up of a job as a server -- the customers don't directly tip you! That said, though, as a host, you literally have power over the whole restaurant and how you do things can mean the difference between a smooth night and a rough one. If you f*ck up continually or favor certain servers over others, you won't last long. You've got to get to know your servers and their strengths and weaknesses, and be willing to pitch in and help at any time -- if they're busy and need you to get a guy a Coke or a bottle of ketchup or even serve their meal -- you can make all the difference. Also, the host must keep an eye on the kitchen. You sometimes need to go on a false wait to avoid swamping the kitchen if a bunch of people all come in at once. Believe me, a 5 min. wait at the front is a lot better than waiting an hour for your food.

But all of this stuff has to be learned through experience. You will work closely with your manager. In fact, by the time I left, I was essentially a manager with a "Host" nametag. Heheh one of the managers-in-training, who had been a bartender and server before, told me that her job was essentially a host but with higher pay.

Again, all of this was just my personal experience at one place, and restaurants differ considerably in what they expect hosts to do and how they pay them.