Restaurant host 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 you need, such as [Friday and Saturday nights, Sunday brunch and holidays], how long they run, and when each week's schedule comes out.
• Explain that the host decides who sits where, and that servers will sometimes push for more tables. The rotation and the manager decide, not the loudest server.
• Say that the stand also handles the phone, to-go pickups and delivery drivers, so a busy night means doing several things at once.
• Tell them how pay works for hosts here, [an hourly wage and any share of tips], so no one is surprised by the first paycheck.

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 · Honest wait times

   Saturday at seven-thirty, four groups are waiting, the phone won't stop ringing, and a party of eight with no reservation asks how long it'll be. What do you do?

   It shows whether they quote from the floor or from a hopeful guess, and whether the phone gets lost.

   Follow-ups

   • How do you work out the wait?
   • What do you tell them if you're not sure?
   • What happens to the caller while you do this?

   5Strong

   Puts the caller on a short hold, looks at which tables have the check or are on dessert and which can be pushed together for eight, quotes a range on the safe side, suggests the bar or texting them, adds them to the list, and picks the phone back up.

   3Mixed

   Quotes a fair time based on how long the list is, not on what's happening at the tables, or gets it right but leaves the caller on hold too long.

   1Weak

   Guesses a short wait to keep the party, or lets the phone ring out.

2. Situational · Honest wait times

   A couple quoted thirty minutes has now waited forty-five. They come to the stand angry, and the next table for two won't open for another ten minutes. What do you do?

   Waits run long on busy nights. How the host owns it decides whether the couple stays and comes back.

   Follow-ups

   • What are your first words to them?
   • Which offers can you make yourself, and which are the manager's call?
   • What do you change about your quotes for the rest of the night?

   5Strong

   Apologizes without excuses, gives a real updated time from the floor, offers a seat at the bar if one fits, checks with the manager before offering anything on the house, and quotes longer for the rest of the night.

   3Mixed

   Apologizes and gives a new time, but it's another guess, and nothing changes in later quotes.

   1Weak

   Points the finger at the kitchen or at other guests, or argues that the wait was only an estimate.

3. Situational · Pacing the floor

   The kitchen just dug out of a rush. A party of ten, a party of eight and three tables of four are waiting, and five tables open at the same moment. How do you seat them?

   A clean table isn't always a ready one. This shows whether they think about the kitchen and the servers, not just the empty seats.

   Follow-ups

   • Who do you check with before you seat the big parties?
   • How do you spread them across servers?
   • Guests see empty tables and ask why they're still waiting. What do you say?

   5Strong

   Checks with the manager or kitchen, seats the parties a few minutes apart with the big ones in different sections, keeps the rotation fair, and tells waiting guests honestly that their table will be ready shortly, with a time.

   3Mixed

   Spreads the parties fairly across servers but seats them all at once, or spaces them out but loads one server.

   1Weak

   Fills every open table right away with whoever is next.

4. Situational · Pacing the floor

   A server you get along with asks you for the next big party because they've had a slow night. It isn't their turn in the rotation. What do you do?

   Servers live on tips, and a host who plays favorites costs you good servers.

   Follow-ups

   • What do you say to the server?
   • Who decides if the rotation changes?
   • Another server sees it happen and asks you about it. What do you say?

   5Strong

   Says no kindly, explains the rotation, and sends the server to the manager if there's a real reason to change it. Answers the other server honestly.

   3Mixed

   Keeps the rotation this time but promises to make it up with a later table.

   1Weak

   Gives them the party because they're friends or because they asked.

5. Technical · Getting details right

   Walk me through taking a phone reservation for six. The caller mentions a severe tree nut allergy and a birthday, and asks if you can promise the dessert is nut-free.

   Notes taken at the stand are how the kitchen and the server find out. A host who promises what the kitchen can't puts a guest at risk.

   Follow-ups

   • What do you write, and where?
   • What exactly do you say about the dessert?
   • Who sees the note before service, and how do you know they saw it?

   5Strong

   Reads back the name, date, time, party size and phone number, records the allergy and birthday in the reservation notes, makes no promise about the food, says the manager or chef will go over it, and tells the manager at pre-shift.

   3Mixed

   Records both and makes no promise, but writes them somewhere only the stand sees, like a sticky note, or doesn't read back the details.

   1Weak

   Promises the dessert is nut-free, or doesn't write the allergy down.

6. Situational · Welcoming every guest

   A guest arrives with a dog in a harness. Another guest in line says they're allergic and asks you not to seat the dog nearby. What do you do?

   Hosts are the first staff a service animal team meets. You're testing for respect, and for asking a manager when unsure; you'll train the exact rules.

   Follow-ups

   • What, if anything, can you ask the guest with the dog?
   • Where do you seat each party?
   • The dog keeps barking and the owner doesn't settle it. What now?

   5Strong

   Welcomes the guest and the dog. Asks for no papers and nothing about a condition; if the dog's job isn't obvious, asks only the two allowed questions or gets the manager. Seats both parties in the main room, apart where possible. Leaves any removal to the manager.

   3Mixed

   Welcomes both parties and asks nothing improper, but seats them side by side without a thought for the allergy, or doesn't know whether a dog that won't settle can ever be asked to leave.

   1Weak

   Turns the dog away, asks for papers or about the guest's condition, or tucks the party into a back corner because of the complaint.

7. Behavioral · Calm at the door

   Think of a time several people wanted your help at the same moment, at a job, at school, on a team or as a volunteer. Walk me through what you did.

   That's every Saturday at the stand, and past behavior shows how they'll handle it.

   Follow-ups

   • How did you decide who came first?
   • How did the people who waited know you'd get to them?
   • What would you do differently?

   5Strong

   Gives a specific case. Let each person know they'd been seen, took them in an order that made sense, kept the waiting ones updated, and called for help once it was more than one person could handle.

   3Mixed

   Got through it one person at a time, but didn't let the others know they'd been seen.

   1Weak

   Shut down, or served one person and let the others stand there.

8. Behavioral · Calm at the door

   Tell me about a time someone wanted something from you that you couldn't give, at a job, at school or anywhere else. How did you tell them?

   Hosts say no all night: no table yet, no to the booth, no to skipping the list. You want kind and clear.

   Follow-ups

   • Tell me what you said, as close as you can remember.
   • What did you offer in its place?
   • How did the person leave?

   5Strong

   Gives a specific case. Said no warmly and plainly, gave the reason, offered something they could do, and the person walked away still feeling respected.

   3Mixed

   Held the no but sounded short, or explained too long without offering anything else.

   1Weak

   Caved to dodge the awkward moment, or was rude.

9. Behavioral · Getting details right

   Tell me about a time you kept a list, schedule or sign-up straight for other people, at work, school, on a team or anywhere else.

   The reservation book and the waitlist are lists other people count on. This shows how carefully they've kept one.

   Follow-ups

   • How did you keep it right when things changed?
   • What went wrong, and what did you do?
   • How did people find out about changes?

   5Strong

   Gives a specific case. Had a simple system, updated it the moment things changed, checked it before it mattered, and told people about changes right away.

   3Mixed

   Kept it mostly right, but relied on memory and fixed mistakes after someone noticed.

   1Weak

   Can't name a time, or lost track and left others to sort it out.

Work exercise: host-stand drill

Hand finalists a printed floor plan marked with each table's stage (just sat, on mains, on dessert, check dropped), a server rotation, a waitlist and tonight's reservations with notes. Over [12] minutes, three parties walk in, one of them seven guests with no reservation, and an interviewer calls to book and mentions a shellfish allergy. They quote each wait, pick each table and say why.

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 close were their wait quotes, and what did they do when a wait ran long?
• How did servers feel about the way they seated the floor?
• How careful were they with reservation notes like allergies and special requests? Did anything ever get missed?
• Would you put them alone at the stand on a Saturday night? What should they get better at first?

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.

• SkipHow old are you? Are you still in high school?

  AskOur host shifts are [Friday and Saturday from five until close, plus Sunday brunch]. Can you work that schedule? If your state's labor or liquor law sets a minimum age for this job, ask every candidate the same way whether they meet it. After the offer, ask for proof of age, plus a work permit if your state requires one for anyone under eighteen.

• SkipIs English your first language? Where's your accent from?

  AskThe job includes [greeting guests and taking phone reservations in English]. Run the same short mock phone call with every candidate and rate how clearly they handle it.

Common mistakes when hiring a restaurant host

• Hiring the friendliest face and nothing more

  A warm greeting matters, but the door's harder job is quoting waits and pacing the floor. The host-stand drill shows in twelve minutes who can read a floor and who just fills empty tables.

• Hiring only for the stand

  Many hosts move up to server once they know the menu. Ask what they'd like to learn next, and weigh how they handle details and pressure as if you might hand them a section.

Restaurant host interview FAQ