Food runner interview questions

What this hire must get done

Write the scorecard before you interview, then hire against it. Set the bracketed targets from your own numbers.

What to tell candidates before the interview

Say the hard parts plainly. People who wouldn't stay drop out early, and the ones who stay knew what they signed up for.

• Name the shifts: [dinner, Friday and Saturday nights and holidays], and that runners are often cut once the kitchen slows.
• Describe the work: carrying hot plates and full trays through a crowded room and swinging doors at the pace the kitchen sets, with training on your trays and towels first.
• Explain that runners learn the table map, seat numbers and menu before running alone, and that you back any runner who stops an allergy plate, even when it slows the table.
• Explain how runners are paid, [hourly plus the runner share under your tip policy], and whether runners here carry alcoholic drinks, since your state may set a minimum age for that.

How to run the interview

1. Same questions, same order. Ask every candidate the questions below and the same follow-ups. It is the only way to compare people fairly.
2. Two interviewers. An owner or manager and someone who does the work. Take notes on what the candidate says, not on how you feel about them.
3. Score right after each answer. 5 sounds like the strong answer, 3 like the mixed one, 1 like the weak one. Use 2 and 4 for answers in between.
4. Rate alone, then compare. Compare candidates question by question, and talk only after everyone has scored. Big gaps are worth a conversation.

1. Situational · Getting the seat right

   Expo hands you a six-top's mains. The ticket has seat numbers, but when you reach the table, two guests have swapped chairs and their server is nowhere in sight. What do you do?

   Seat numbers break the moment guests move. This shows whether they notice, fix it quietly, and pass it on so the next course goes right.

   Follow-ups

   • How would you notice the swap?
   • What changes if one of the swapped plates is an allergy plate?
   • Who needs to hear about the swap?

   5Strong

   Sets down the plates for seats that didn't move, quietly confirms the two swapped dishes with those guests, names the allergy as that plate goes down, and tells the server and expo so dessert lands right.

   3Mixed

   Handles the table smoothly with a quick check on the swapped seats, but doesn't tell the server, so the next course goes wrong again.

   1Weak

   Sets plates down by the ticket's seat numbers anyway, or auctions every plate.

2. Technical · Getting the seat right

   Here's a made-up ticket for a four-top: seat one, salmon; seat two, burger medium, no onion; seat three, gnocchi flagged dairy allergy; seat four, burger medium-well. Walk me through checking the plates at the window before you walk.

   Most wrong drops start at the window. This shows whether they check modifiers and markers, not just dish names.

   Follow-ups

   • How do you tell the two burgers apart?
   • How do you carry the gnocchi?
   • What would make you stop before leaving the window?

   5Strong

   Checks each plate against the ticket, looks for the missing onion, asks expo how the burgers are marked if unsure, confirms the allergy marker on the gnocchi and carries it apart from the others, and plans the set-down order by seat.

   3Mixed

   Matches dish names and spots the allergy plate, but skips the modifiers, like the onion, and has no set-down order.

   1Weak

   Grabs the plates and walks, planning to sort it out at the table.

3. Situational · Allergy plates

   The ticket says seat two has a peanut allergy. The plate in the window has the kitchen's allergy marker, but there's a crunchy garnish on top that looks like the regular one. Expo says it's probably fine, just run it. What do you do?

   Scraping off an allergen doesn't make a plate safe; it has to be remade. A runner who holds the line here can stop a reaction.

   Follow-ups

   • What do you say to expo, word for word?
   • Why not just pick the garnish off?
   • What does the guest in seat two hear while they wait?

   5Strong

   Doesn't run it. Tells expo plainly the garnish may be peanut, keeps the plate in the window until the chef checks it, and expects a remake under your allergy policy if it's wrong, never a scrape. Makes sure the server tells the guest their plate is a few minutes behind.

   3Mixed

   Holds the plate and gets expo to check with the cook, but runs the rest of the table without anyone telling the guest why one plate is late.

   1Weak

   Runs it because expo said it's fine, or picks the garnish off and sends it.

4. Situational · Recovering from mistakes

   As you walk away, you realize you just set table twelve's two steaks at table twenty-one, and one guest there has already started cutting. What do you do?

   Every runner drops a plate at the wrong table eventually. The next minute decides whether two tables end up with a good night or a comp.

   Follow-ups

   • What do you say to the guests at table twenty-one?
   • Who do you tell, and in what order?
   • What happens to the plates that sat at the wrong table?

   5Strong

   Goes back right away, apologizes, tells expo at once so table twelve's steaks are refired and twenty-one's own order is checked, tells both servers, and leaves any comp to the manager. Never carries plates from the wrong table to the right one.

   3Mixed

   Goes back, apologizes and tells expo so the refire starts, but doesn't tell either server, so table twelve's server hears about the wait from the guests.

   1Weak

   Says nothing, or takes the plates back and walks them to table twelve.

5. Situational · Talking to expo

   It's eight on a Friday. Expo is calling for hands on three tables at once, and you're the only runner at the window, with two plates already in your hands. What do you do?

   A runner who says nothing leaves expo guessing. This shows whether they carry what's safe and get help instead of overloading.

   Follow-ups

   • How many plates would you take, and how do you decide?
   • Who would you ask for help, and what would you say?
   • What do you tell expo when you come back?

   5Strong

   Takes only what they can carry safely, tells expo which table is going and asks which is next, calls a busser or free server for hands by table number, and comes straight back to report what's down.

   3Mixed

   Runs as fast as they safely can, but never tells expo where things stand or asks for help, so plates keep sitting.

   1Weak

   Stacks more than they can carry, or leaves plates in the window to finish side work.

6. Situational · Safe carrying

   A plate from under the heat lamp is too hot to hold, expo is telling you to go, and there are no dry towels at the pass. What do you do?

   Plates under heat lamps burn hands and arms, and a runner who rushes drops plates on guests. This shows whether they take ten seconds to do it safely.

   Follow-ups

   • What do you tell expo?
   • How do you get through the kitchen door with full hands?
   • What do you say as you set the plate down?

   5Strong

   Tells expo they need a moment, gets a dry cloth from the linen stock or uses a tray, takes the out door and calls behind or corner on the way, warns the guest the plate is hot, and restocks the towels after.

   3Mixed

   Gets a dry cloth and carries it safely, but doesn't warn the guest the plate is hot or restock the towels.

   1Weak

   Carries it bare-handed, or rushes it and sets it down hard near a guest.

7. Behavioral · Getting the seat right

   Think of something with a lot of parts you had to learn fast, like a map, a playbook, a set of names or a menu. How did you get it down?

   Runners have to learn the table map and the menu before their first busy night. A candidate with a method learns your restaurant faster.

   Follow-ups

   • How did you check you really had it?
   • What did you get wrong at first?
   • How would you learn our table map before your first shift?

   5Strong

   Names a method they used, like drawing it out, saying it aloud or quizzing themselves, how long it took, and how they tested it before it counted.

   3Mixed

   Learned it eventually through repetition, but has no method they could use on a new menu in a few days.

   1Weak

   No example, or says they just remember things.

8. Behavioral · Talking to expo

   Describe a moment when you had to warn a boss, coach or teacher that something was going wrong. What did you say, and how?

   Runners have to tell expo and the chef when a plate looks wrong. This shows whether they've spoken up to someone senior before, and how.

   Follow-ups

   • What did you notice?
   • How did they react?
   • What would you do differently?

   5Strong

   Describes a specific problem, raised it promptly with the right person, said it plainly with what they'd seen, and checked back if nothing changed.

   3Mixed

   Raised it, but late, after it got worse, or only through someone else.

   1Weak

   Kept quiet to stay out of trouble, or has nothing to describe.

9. Behavioral · Recovering from mistakes

   Think of a mistake you made while a customer, or someone you were helping, watched. What did you do in the next minute?

   The first minute after a mistake shows whether a runner owns it or hides it. In a dining room, hiding it means a guest waits.

   Follow-ups

   • How did you notice?
   • Who did you tell?
   • What do you do differently now?

   5Strong

   Said so on the spot, fixed it or brought in help fast, let the person affected know, and can name a habit they changed afterward.

   3Mixed

   Fixed it, but quietly, without telling the person affected or a supervisor.

   1Weak

   Covered it up, pointed at someone else, or has no example.

Work exercise: check a mock window

Lay out a printed table map with seat numbers, made-up tickets for [two] tables and plate cards. Plant one plate with the allergy marker and the wrong garnish, and one meant for the other table. In [10] minutes, finalists check the window, say which plates go first and in what order they'd set them down. An interviewer plays expo and says once, "It's fine, just run it." No real food or hot plates. A working trial, if you want one, is optional and paid at least minimum wage.

Use made-up materials, never real customer work, and keep it to the time shown. Follow your own safety rules for anything hands-on.

Reference check questions

Tell finalists you'll call a former manager, and get their permission first. Ask about what they did, not whether they were nice.

• How often did their plates go to the wrong seat or table, and what did they do when it happened?
• Tell me about an allergy plate they stopped or questioned. How did they handle it?
• During a rush, did they keep expo told what was happening on the floor, and did they carry plates and trays the way you trained them?
• Would you put them on a Friday dinner shift again? Why or why not?

Questions to skip, and what to ask instead

Ask only what the job needs. Questions that touch age, health, family or pay history can break federal, state or local law, even when you mean well.

• SkipAny problems with your memory or eyesight? You'll have to read tickets fast.

  AskGive every finalist the same mock window and score the result. Describe the job's tasks to everyone, [reading tickets and the screen at the pass, learning the table map and carrying loaded trays that can weigh twenty-five pounds], and ask whether they can handle the list, with or without reasonable accommodation.

• SkipRunners need a clean look on the floor. Would you take off that head scarf for work?

  AskShow every candidate the same uniform rules. If someone asks for an exception for religious dress or grooming, treat it as an accommodation request and grant it unless it would cause undue hardship. What customers might prefer is never a reason to refuse.

Common mistakes when hiring a food runner

• Hiring the fastest walker

  Speed from the pass means nothing if plates land at the wrong seat. Ten minutes at the mock window shows you who reads the ticket before walking.

• Letting expo overrule the runner on allergies

  If runners learn that questioning a plate gets them yelled at, they'll stop questioning. Tell every new runner, and your expo, that stopping an allergy plate is always the right call, and back them when they do it.

Food runner interview FAQ