Restaurant Manager interview questions can be tough due to the complexity of the role. A Restaurant Manager supervises a restaurant location and manages its daily operations. Their responsibilities include recruiting and training staff, scheduling shifts for employees, and ensuring compliance with company protocols. Besides that, they also prepare menus, order food & beverage supplies, monitor expenses, and settle customer disputes.
They liaise between restaurant employees and the headquarters of the company. Restaurant Managers file reports, meet turnover goals, and offer advice about how to run the company more efficiently based on their working experience in the restaurant.
Let’s have a look at the top 8 interview restaurant manager interview questions and answers.
8 Restaurant Manager Interview Questions
Whether you’re applying to a big national chain or a small local favorite, it’s important to be prepared for your interview so you can make the right impression on the hiring manager. These are some of the most common interview questions restaurant managers should expect:
Restaurant Manager Interview Question #1: "What do you know about our restaurant?"
If you have done your homework before the interview, you already know how to answer this. Check out the restaurant’s website, take a look at their social media channels, and guest reviews on Facebook and Google.
Try to get a sense of the number of wait staff working in the restaurant, what cuisine they serve (specialty or seasonal), what the restaurant’s vibes and atmosphere are like, potential strengths and weaknesses, and how customers feel about their restaurant. All of this information will help you answer this question confidently.
Restaurant Manager Interview Question #2: "What experience do you have in this field?"
Hopefully, if you are applying for the role of general manager at a restaurant, you already have some relevant work experience. If that’s the case, you can simply answer this question with an overview of all of your previous management experiences, including the names of any restaurants you managed, how long you held the position, and what you achieved during your time there.
But if you don’t have any experience, it’s important to be honest. Tell the hiring manager that although you don’t have experience working as a restaurant manager, you do have transferable soft skills that you’ve refined over various experiences—including any professional, volunteer, or educational experiences that could be relevant. People skills are one of the many qualities that you need to effectively manage a team and provide exceptional service to customers.
Restaurant Manager Interview Question #3: "How do you cope with an understaffed shift?"
As a restaurant manager, one of your responsibilities would be to schedule employees for different shifts. You’ll likely encounter a case where one or more workers can’t come in to work or you don’t have enough staff to cover a busy shift. When this happens, the first thing you should do is communicate with your employees to see if anyone is able to cover the extra shift that day.
Alternatively, you could take it upon yourself to cover the shift if you don’t have an employee to cover it. Since you already know this will happen, you can suggest implementing a reward system for employees who hit perfect attendance on a monthly basis.
Restaurant Manager Interview Question #4: "What would you do if an employee is not performing up to your expectations?"
Occasionally, your employees might not meet company expectations with their performance at work. There are many explanations for this and it would be your duty to get to the bottom of it, find out the problem and fix the solution. Below is an example of how you can answer this type of restaurant manager interview question:
“I would find out why my employee is not meeting the company’s expectations. Is it because they’re stressed out at home, family issues, etc? I would listen to their reasoning and suggest a way to help. However, if the poor performance continues, I would follow up with disciplinary protocols such as a written warning or termination. I would take pride in helping my employees do their best work, but would exercise my authority when necessary.”
Restaurant General Manager Interview Question #5: "Describe a time when you dealt with a serious customer complaint."
Creating quality food is the aim of all restaurants and it is very important to be able to manage customer problems before they escalate. The hiring manager may provide you with a scenario such as: “Imagine a customer has just found a hair in their meal. What is your next course of action?”
Below is one way you can answer this situational interview question:
“I would apologize to the customer and have their meal replaced. I would offer to either compensate the customer’s meal or give them a discount off their total bill and assure them that this won’t happen again.”
Restaurant Manager Job Interview Question #6: "Why do you want to become our restaurant manager?"
This is one of the most crucial parts of your interview—if you manage to persuade them that you genuinely care about the restaurant’s well-being and success, your odds of being hired will automatically increase
Compliment the hiring manager’s company by saying that you like their restaurant because they are one of the highest traffic restaurants in town. You can see certain opportunities to change and believe that you can make their restaurant a better place, for both employees and customers.
Restaurant Manager Interview Question #7: "What would you improve about our restaurant?"
Your pre-interview research will provide you with a clear response to this question. If you can’t identify any specific areas for improvement, you can still say you would strive to boost employee job quality, increase the level of customer satisfaction, or attract more new customers to the restaurant via online social media marketing.
Restaurant Manager Interview Question #8: "How would you motivate other workers in our restaurant?"
You can say that you will set a conducive working environment for our employees and restaurant. In the service industry, happy employees equal happy customers.
Emphasize that you would show employees how to achieve their individual goals (salary increase, bigger tips, and job promotions) as well as the restaurant’s goals (better online reviews, more traffic, more returning customers), so your employees understand how their effort and work will translate into their positive results.
Land Your Next Restaurant Manager Role Today
By answering these restaurant manager interview questions with confidence, you’ll show hiring managers that you have what it takes to make the restaurant a success. If you’re looking for your next role as a restaurant GM, check out our restaurant manager jobs and start applying today!
