Free Hostess Job Description Templates
Free hostess and restaurant host job description templates: standard, gender-neutral, fine dining, fast-casual, and lead. Download as DOCX.
Hostess Job Description Templates
5 free templates for restaurants. Download as DOCX or copy-paste.
The host stand is the smallest station in the restaurant and the one that touches every single guest. A good hostess turns a 40-minute Friday wait into a managed experience instead of a walkout, keeps server sections balanced so the floor does not melt down, and answers the phone call that becomes a 12-top booking. Yet most hostess job postings are three generic lines, which is why they attract applicants who think the job is standing at a podium.
At FirstHR, we build for small businesses that hire without an HR department, and restaurants are the heart of that group: the owner or GM writes the posting between services. The five templates below cover the real versions of the door role: standard hostess, the gender-neutral restaurant host, fine dining, fast-casual, and the lead hostess who runs the team. Each is ready to use. Fill in the bracketed fields, name your systems and schedule, and post. For the general principles behind any posting, the guide to writing a job description covers the fundamentals.
What Does a Hostess Do?
A hostess greets guests at the door, seats them across server sections, manages the waitlist and reservations, answers the phone, and keeps the entry presentable. The federal occupational data describes the role as welcoming patrons, seating them, and helping ensure the quality of facilities and service, and the O*NET profile for hosts and hostesses lists the full task set, from managing reservation software to coordinating with the service team. The same profile notes the titles employers actually use: greeter, host, hostess, seater, dining room coordinator, maitre d'.
The reality behind the task list is that the host runs the room's traffic. Seating decisions determine whether servers get buried or starved, wait time quotes determine whether guests stay, and the phone determines whether tonight's reservations exist at all. A posting that treats the job with that weight attracts a different applicant than one that describes greeting and smiling. The SHRM job description tools describe a good job description as a plain-language summary of a position's tasks, duties, and responsibilities, and for hourly hospitality roles, plain and honest language is also your best turnover prevention.
Hostess Duties and Responsibilities
Hostess duties center on greeting and seating guests, managing the waitlist and reservations, handling phones and guest questions, and supporting the front of house with pacing coordination and entry upkeep. The mix shifts by restaurant type, but the categories hold from diners to fine dining. These are the responsibilities grouped the way the templates use them.
A good posting picks 6 to 10 specific duties from these categories and names your actual systems and pace: manage reservations in your booking platform, quote waits on Friday nights, handle the to-go counter. In fast-casual and family spots, expect the list to extend to the POS and table resets. For a structured way to scope any role before posting, the guide to defining job responsibilities walks through the process.
Host vs Hostess: Is There a Difference?
No. Host and hostess are the same job: hostess is the traditionally feminine form, and the federal classification covers both under one occupation. The practical question for your posting is which title to use, and the answer is the neutral one.
| Factor | Host / Hostess | Server |
|---|---|---|
| Station | The door, host stand, and phones | Assigned table section |
| Core duty | Greet, seat, manage waitlist and reservations | Take orders, serve, handle checks |
| Guest relationship | First and last impression of the visit | The whole meal in between |
| Typical pay structure | Hourly, sometimes tip share | Tipped wage plus tips |
| Experience needed | Often none; trainable in a week | Usually some service experience |
Post under Host or Host/Hostess. A gendered title narrows your applicant pool and can read as a preference for one gender, which sits poorly against the EEOC rules on job advertisements that prohibit expressing preferences based on protected characteristics. Applicants still search both words, which this page covers, but the posting itself should welcome everyone; the gender-neutral template below is written for exactly that. And if the role you are actually filling is at the tables rather than the door, the server templates cover that job.
Which Template Should You Use?
Pick the template that matches your restaurant type and the weight of the role. The core structure is the same across all five, but the duties, tone, and requirements shift from a fast-casual counter to a fine dining book. Use this guide to choose.
5 Free Hostess Job Description Templates
Download all five as a single Word document or copy individual templates. Each one follows the same structure: restaurant overview, job summary, key responsibilities, qualifications, schedule and pay, and how to apply, with the schedule expectations stated plainly. Fill in the brackets before you post.
Template 1: Standard Hostess
The universal baseline for casual and family restaurants: greeting, seating rotation, waitlist, phones, and the host stand, with the schedule reality built in.
Template 2: Restaurant Host (Gender-Neutral)
The same role posted under the inclusive title with welcoming language. The version most small restaurants should default to for the wider applicant pool.
Template 3: Fine Dining Hostess
For upscale rooms: reservation software fluency, guest notes and VIP recognition, pacing coordination with captains and the kitchen, and standards to match the room.
Template 4: Fast-Casual / Family Restaurant Host
The versatile counter version: seating plus to-go orders, POS and phones, table resets, and a we-train framing that attracts reliable first-job applicants.
Template 5: Lead / Senior Hostess
For restaurants with a host team: training and scheduling, owning the reservation book and floor plan, making the busy-night calls, and a growth path toward FOH management.
Skills and Qualifications to Include
Host hiring rewards minimal requirements and sharp screening. Almost everything procedural, the seating chart, the waitlist app, the phone script, trains in a week, so the qualifications section should center on the things that do not train. The difference shows in how the bullets are written.
| Weak requirement | Strong requirement |
|---|---|
| Friendly personality | Warm, professional presence with guests, even during a full-lobby rush |
| Good communication | Clear, polite phone manner; takes reservations and to-go orders accurately |
| Able to multitask | Stays organized juggling the door, the phone, and the waitlist at once |
| Restaurant experience | Prior experience preferred, not required; we train on our systems in week one |
| Flexible schedule | Available evenings, weekends, and holidays, stated up front |
For fine dining, legitimately raise the bar: reservation platform experience, polish, and discretion with regulars are real requirements there. Everywhere else, keep the list short and screen in person. Physical requirements, standing for full shifts and lifting up to 25 pounds, belong in the posting plainly, since they reflect the genuine demands of the job.
How to Write a Hostess Job Description
A strong hostess posting takes about 15 minutes once you settle the title, the schedule, and the rate. Here is the process the templates are built around. If this is one of your first hires, the small business hiring guide covers the steps around the posting itself.
Hostess Salary
Set your hourly rate from federal data as a baseline, then adjust for your market, restaurant type, and whether hosts share the tip pool. Host pay sits in a narrow band compared to most roles, which makes the visible perks, meals, tip share, flexibility, a real part of the offer.
Host-specific federal data tracks close to the group: the most recent detailed release for the occupation put the median at $14.05 per hour, about $29,220 per year, in the BLS occupational wage data for hosts and hostesses, with the overwhelming majority of the roughly 425,000 host jobs sitting in restaurants. Location moves the number meaningfully, and fine dining rooms pay toward the top of the band. Publish the range either way: in hourly hospitality hiring, the million-plus annual openings mean your applicants compare postings side by side, and the one with the visible number and named perks wins the walk-ins.
Hiring a Host for a Small Restaurant
Chain restaurants hire hosts with a recruiting team, a training department, and a bench of cross-trained staff. An independent restaurant has the owner or GM writing the posting between services and training the hire personally. Here is how to write the posting for that reality.
From Hiring to Onboarding
The job description is step one. Once a candidate accepts, the same document becomes the basis for the offer and a short, structured onboarding: paperwork including the I-9 and tax forms, the handbook, a tour, and trained shifts on the seating chart, the reservation system, and the phone script. Restaurants feel early turnover harder than almost any industry, and the difference between a host who stays and one who quits in month one is usually whether the first week was organized or improvised.
The restaurant employee onboarding checklist covers the full first-week sequence for front-of-house hires, and the restaurant employee handbook template gives the new host the house rules in writing. Once you have your offer ready, the offer letter template handles the next step, and the employee onboarding template structures the first weeks. If you are staffing the rest of the floor too, the bartender and restaurant manager templates follow the same structure as this set. FirstHR connects the offer, e-signature paperwork, and onboarding workflow in one place, so a small restaurant can take a host from accepted offer to confident first solo shift without an HR department.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a hostess do?
A hostess greets guests at the door, seats them according to server rotation and table availability, manages the waitlist and reservations, answers phones, and keeps the entry area presentable. In practice the role is the restaurant's traffic controller: a good hostess balances server sections so no one gets overwhelmed, quotes honest wait times that keep guests from walking, coordinates pacing with the kitchen on busy nights, and shapes the first and last impression of every visit. In smaller and fast-casual restaurants the duties usually extend to the to-go counter, the POS, and helping reset tables when the floor needs hands.
What are the main duties and responsibilities of a host?
Host duties fall into four areas. Greeting and seating: welcoming every guest promptly, seating across fair server rotation, and managing walk-ins. Reservations and waitlist: running the waitlist, quoting accurate wait times, and managing the reservation book. Phones and guest questions: answering calls about hours, menus, and parties, and taking phone reservations or to-go orders. Front-of-house support: keeping the host stand presentable, coordinating pacing with servers and the kitchen, and helping with table resets during rushes. A strong job posting picks 6 to 10 specific duties from these areas and names your systems, like the reservation software the host will actually use.
Is there a difference between a host and a hostess?
No, it is the same job. Hostess is the traditionally feminine form, host is the neutral form, and the federal occupational classification covers them as one role. For your posting, the practical guidance is to use Host or Host/Hostess as the title, since a gender-neutral title widens your applicant pool and avoids implying a preference for one gender, which equal opportunity rules prohibit in job advertising. Many guests and applicants still search the word hostess, which is why this page covers both, but the posting itself should welcome everyone. The gender-neutral template here is written exactly for that.
What skills should a hostess job description require?
The core skills are warmth that survives a Friday rush, clear communication in person and on the phone, organization across the door, the waitlist, and the phone at once, quick and fair judgment on seating, and physical stamina to stand for full shifts. Keep formal requirements minimal: most host roles need no degree and no prior experience, and the strongest predictor is how the applicant treats people under pressure. List reservation software experience as preferred rather than required, since systems can be taught in days. For fine dining, raise the bar: reservation platform fluency, polish, and discretion with regulars and VIPs become genuine requirements.
How much does a hostess make?
Restaurant hosts and hostesses earned a median of about $14.05 per hour, roughly $29,220 per year, in the most recent detailed federal wage data for the occupation, with the broader food and beverage serving group at a median of $14.92 per hour as of May 2024. Pay varies meaningfully by state, restaurant type, and whether hosts share in the tip pool: fine dining rooms and high-cost states pay toward the top of the range, while entry-level roles in casual spots sit near minimum wage plus perks. Publish your hourly range and name the extras like shift meals and tip share; in hourly hiring, the posting with the visible number wins the applicants.
Do hostesses need experience?
Usually not. Hosting is one of the classic first jobs in hospitality, and most casual and fast-casual restaurants train new hosts within a week on the seating chart, waitlist system, and phone script. What you cannot train is reliability, warmth with strangers, and composure when the lobby is full, so screen for those instead: ask about the busiest customer-facing moment they have handled, and watch how they interact with your staff when they drop off an application. The exceptions are fine dining, where reservation platform experience and polish are reasonable requirements, and lead host roles, which need real front-of-house experience.
How do I write a hostess job description for a small restaurant?
Describe the role honestly and specifically. Name the restaurant type and pace, list the actual duties including the unglamorous ones like phones and table resets, state the schedule reality of evenings, weekends, and holidays up front, and put a real hourly range with the perks you offer, such as shift meals or tip share. Use a gender-neutral title to widen the pool, keep requirements minimal, and say we train if that is true, because it attracts the reliable first-job applicants who often become your best hosts. The templates on this page take about ten minutes to customize; pick the one matching your restaurant type.
What happens after I hire a hostess?
Once a candidate accepts, the job description becomes the basis for the offer and a short, structured onboarding: paperwork including the I-9 and tax forms, the employee handbook, a tour, and then trained shifts covering the seating chart, server rotation, the reservation system, and the phone script. Restaurants feel turnover more than almost any industry, and the first week decides whether an hourly hire stays, so a written checklist beats hoping a busy manager remembers everything. FirstHR handles the offer letter, document collection with e-signature, and the onboarding workflow in one place, so a small restaurant can take a host from accepted offer to confident first solo shift without an HR department.