Olive Garden is a popular American restaurant that specializes in Italian-American cuisine. The restaurant is a subsidiary of Darden Concepts Incorporated that has its headquarters in Orange County, Florida. Would you like to know about the Olive Garden host job description? If your answer is yes, then you should continue reading this post.
We will discuss the Olive Garden hostess pay as well as the responsibilities of a hostess at the restaurant. Also, we will talk about the quality of the job and whether it is worth applying for. Without further ado, let’s get to the crux of this post.
What is starting pay at Olive Garden?
Before we discuss the starting pay of a hostess at Olive Garden, let’s define who a hostess is. First of all, a hostess is a female host so we will use both words interchangeably in this post. The first face a guest sees as they walk into a restaurant is the host. If a host does their job properly, they will set the tone for an amazing dining experience.
Not every restaurant has a host. Only dine-in, sit-down restaurants like Olive Garden have hostesses. Their main responsibility is to manage reservations and seat guests. Hosts should be warm and friendly to guests and always work towards providing the best dining experience possible.
With this in mind, let’s look at the starting pay for a host at Olive Garden. Typically, a host gets about $11.85 per hour, however, as a starter, they can earn about $8.00 per hour. The list below shows the starting pay for some of the positions at Olive Garden:
Olive Garden Hostess Pay
- Line Cook: $10 – $16 (Pay range), $13 (Average)
- Server: $3 – $15 (Pay range), $7 (Average)
- Restaurant Host/Hostess: $8 – $14 (Pay range), $11.85 (Average)
- Dishwasher: $10 – $15 (Pay range), $12 (Average)
- Prep Cook: $10 – $16 (Pay range), $13 (Average)
- Waiter/Waitress: $3 – $13 (Pay range), $6 (Average)
- Busser: $6 – $13 (Pay range), $9 (Average)
- Cook, Restaurant: $9 – $16 (Pay range), $12 (Average)
- Food Service Worker: $10 – $19 (Pay range), $14 (Average)
- Host/Hostess: $8 – $13 (Pay range), $11 (Average)
- Host / Hostess of Restaurant, Lounge, or Coffee Shop: $8 – $16 (Pay range), $12 (Average)
- Restaurant Assistant Manager: $11 – $19 (Pay range), $15 (Average)
- Kitchen Worker: $8 – $14 (Pay range), $11 (Average)
- Grill Cook: $11 – $18 (Pay range), $14 (Average)
- Expeditor: $10 – $19 (Pay range), $13 (Average)
- Customer Service Specialist: $9 – $19 (Pay range), $13 (Average)
- Food Preparation Worker: $8 – $13 (Pay range), $10 (Average)
- Sauce Chef / Saucier: $10 – $18 (Pay range), $13 (Average)
- Sales Specialist: $10 – $18 (Pay range), $13 (Average)
- Retail Sales Associate: $9 – $15 (Pay range), $12 (Average)
- Back Line Cook: $12 – $21 (Pay range), $16 (Average)
From the list above, you can see the starting pay at Olive Garden and the average pay for different positions. In the next section, we will discuss the Olive Garden host job description.
What does a hostess do at Olive Garden?
Now that we know the Olive Garden hostess pay, we need to discuss the responsibilities attached to the position. As we mentioned earlier, a hostess at Olive Garden or any other restaurant is the first point of contact with the guest. Below are some of the responsibilities of a hostess at Olive Garden:
Greeting guests
A host greets guests and the expectation is that they should be warm and friendly. They should welcome guests properly to set the tone for their dining experience. A host can determine if a guest will return to a restaurant or not.
Take and manage reservations
Every sit-down restaurant should have a well-organized reservation system. One of the most important responsibilities of the host is to oversee the reservation system.
They can do this using a hardcopy reservations book or reservation software. What this implies is that every host at Olive Garden should know how to take and manage reservations using the system in place. This will also require answering phone calls and following up on guests.
Communicating wait times
A hostess should check through the reservations system and communicate wait times to different guests. It is normal for guests to hold onto time schedules and they may frown at lapses. Because of this, hosts need to be top-notch in their communication of time.
Seating guests
This is another very important responsibility of hostesses at Olive Garden. After checking in a guest, the hostess should walk them to their table. After this, they must ensure that the guest has their menu and begin perusing before a waiter takes over.
Bidding guests goodbye
After a guest finishes eating, their last point of contact should be the hostess. The job of the hostess at this point is to bid the guest goodbye. They must do this in a way that the guest is already thinking of returning to dine at the restaurant.
Is being a host at Olive Garden easy?
In concluding this post about Olive Garden hostess pay and Olive Garden host job description, we must answer this important question. Is it easy to be a host at Olive Garden? Many people that have worked as hosts at the restaurant say that the job is quite easy. They testify that the work environment is great even though the job could get hectic sometimes. The good news is that management rise to the occasion during such periods to lighten the burden on the hostesses.
There are some great benefits of working at Olive Garden and they include:
- Quarterly bonus.
- Stock purchase plan.
- Employee discount.
- Insurance includes health, dental, and vision.
- Paid time off.
- Flexible schedule.
- Retirement plan.
If you have been considering working as a hostess at Olive Garden, you should send in your application. Working there is totally worth it considering the benefits listed above.