Restaurant Manager Interview Questions

"I would say hospitality is when a person is generous and friendly to guests or customers. Hospitality is necessary for the food and beverage industry as it encourages customers to come back and recommend our restaurant to other patrons."

"Before I became a restaurant manager, I was a server at a popular family-friendly restaurant. A family came in with a crying child. I brought them to a table and asked the little boy why he was crying. He said he lost his colouring book in the rain. I asked him what his favourite character was and printed him a colouring sheet with the character. The little boy brightened up immediately, and the parents were really happy as well."

"As I have been a restaurant manager for over three years, I have developed strong leadership skills. I am able to lead and motivate my team members without being overbearing. I also have great interpersonal skills, which help me connect with customers and easily resolve issues when necessary. "

"I adopt a democratic leadership style as I prefer my team to be part of the decision-making process. I don't want employees to feel like they don't have a voice, so I create an inclusive, participative environment. I regularly reward good performance so employees feel appreciated."

"A customer was upset with one of my servers at my previous company because they felt the server wasn't quick enough. I explained the restaurant was really busy that night and the server was trying their best. I offered to bring them a free appetiser to apologise for their wait, and they were happy."

"If an employee was coming in late or underperforming, I would set a private meeting with them to discuss the issue. If they had a problem that led to them being late or underperforming, I would try to solve it. For example, I had an employee consistently coming in half an hour late. When I talked to her, she told me the bus she takes only comes every hour, so we changed her shift to work around the bus schedule. If the problem persisted, I would give the employee a written warning, then consider termination if it still continued."

"I want to manage your restaurant as I have been a patron here for years. Whenever I come in, your staff is always so pleasant and accommodating. Everyone seems to work well together, and the food is delicious. I would love to work somewhere that has the same values your restaurant does."

"When I become a restaurant manager, I like to assess the current budget for a few months before making any necessary changes. This allows me to create a realistic budget. To ensure we stay within that budget every month, I will constantly monitor it and reevaluate it. This allows me to make changes, such as finding a cheaper supplier or ingredients, to stay within our budget."

"I had to fire an employee once for stealing. Another server complained about a portion of her tips missing, so I checked the cameras and saw the employee taking money from everyone's tip envelopes. I scheduled a private meeting with the employee and human resources and let her know we were letting her go and why. She denied stealing, so we showed her the footage and she left with her final paycheque."

"In my previous role, we used APICBASE Food Management to keep track of food costs, inventory and sales. I am a quick learner though, so I would be happy to learn how to use any new software or tools."

"I noticed your restaurant is not available on food delivery apps. Signing up for these platforms is a great way to market your restaurant, but it also gives customers easier access to order your food, thus increasing monthly revenue. Offering deals on the app, such as buy one, get one free, is a great way to attract more customers as well. If customers enjoy their takeout meal, they may even come into the restaurant for a meal."

"If a customer told me they weren't happy with our vegetarian options, I would take the concern seriously. For the moment, I would offer to have the chef adapt a meat dish to become vegetarian for the customer. I don't want customers to leave because they don't think our menu is extensive enough. I would then have a meeting with the head chef to implement a few new vegetarian and vegan options. I would create monthly vegetarian specials and add vegetarian dishes to the permanent menu as well."

"I previously worked for a small family-owned business, as the business owners wanted to take a more hands-off approach. They had a lot of regular customers, but few new ones due to lack of marketing. I started offering monthly promotions and increased advertising in newspapers and on social media. By the end of my first year, I increased annual revenue by 45%."

"In my previous role, I was solely responsible for hiring and recruiting new employees as I worked at a small restaurant. I recruited candidates using job boards by creating detailed job postings. I looked through every application myself and called prospective candidates for interviews. Once I shortlisted a few candidates, I called them in for a second interview and chose one or two to hire. On their first day, I would walk them through our policies, show them around, and assign them a senior employee to shadow for a few days."

"At the beginning of my shift, I create a to-do list of all the tasks I need to get done or delegate. The most time-sensitive tasks will be at the top of the list, so I can complete them first. If I still have a task to finish by the end of my shift, I will try to stay back for a few minutes and do it. If I can't, I will inform the manager or supervisor of the next shift before I leave."