Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers
Also called: Banquet Houseperson, Banquet Set Up Person, Bar Attendant, Bar Back, Barback, Barmaid, Bartender Helper, Beverage Server
Facilitate food service.
What dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers do
Typical tasks
- Run cash registers.
- Serve ice water, coffee, rolls, or butter to patrons.
- Scrape and stack dirty dishes and carry dishes and other tableware to kitchens for cleaning.
- Wipe tables or seats with dampened cloths or replace dirty tablecloths.
- Set tables with clean linens, condiments, or other supplies.
- Greet and seat customers.
- Clean up spilled food or drink or broken dishes and remove empty bottles and trash.
- Maintain adequate supplies of items, such as clean linens, silverware, glassware, dishes, or trays.
- Locate items requested by customers.
- Fill beverage or ice dispensers.
- Carry food, dishes, trays, or silverware from kitchens or supply departments to serving counters.
- Perform serving, cleaning, or stocking duties in establishments, such as cafeterias or dining rooms, to facilitate customer service.
Typical path into the job (BLS)
Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers salary
The median annual wage for dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers is $33,980 (BLS OEWS May 2025; BLS Employment Projections 2025–35, national). The lowest 10 percent earn less than $21,300 and the highest 10 percent earn more than $46,570. The mean annual wage is $34,230.
The mean hourly wage of $16.00 is 2.2× the federal minimum wage of $7.25. State minimums are higher in most large states. Minimum wage by state →
How does your pay compare with people your age?
Your numbers are not sent or stored. The comparison uses this occupation's BLS wage percentiles, adjusted for age with BLS median weekly earnings by age group (Q3 2026).
Pay by percentile
Annual wage percentiles from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS). Percentiles are a good proxy for pay by experience.
Projected pay for Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers (3, 5 and 10 years)est.
Today $33,980 → in 3 years $37,500 → in 5 years $40,000 → in 10 years $47,100 (10-year range $40,500–$54,600). The model assumes pay growth of +3.3% per year.
What drives the annual growth rate
Projected pay = current pay × (1 + annual growth)^years. The annual growth rate starts from a base wage-growth rate and adds or subtracts labor demand (BLS projected employment growth), wage momentum and AI replacement risk for each occupation. Projections are not guarantees. How it is calculated →
Outlook score for Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers
Each component is a percentile rank among all occupations in the same country (0–100). Weights: labor demand 25, wage momentum / openings 15, pay level 15, AI resistance 25, aging workforce 10 (Japan only), entry barrier 10.
Will AI replace Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers? AI replacement risk
How AI is changing this job
A written analysis for this occupation is being prepared.
AI replacement risk compares the parts of a job that are easy to hand to AI or software (processing information, documentation, repetitive computer work) with the parts that are hard to automate (physical work, working closely with people, judgment in unpredictable settings), using O*NET work activities, work context, skills and knowledge. The result is a relative position among all occupations in the country, scaled to 0–100%. Methodology →
Labor demand for Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers
Employment projections are from the BLS Employment Projections program (2025–35). Annual openings include both new jobs and replacement of workers who leave the occupation.
Skills, education and requirements for Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers
Key skills
O*NET skill level ratings (0–7).
Key knowledge areas
What the work involves
Important abilities
Education of workers
Training before entry
Related work experience
Job Zone 2 — some preparation needed (O*NET)
Difficulty of entry: ★☆☆☆☆ Easy to enter (from education, training, experience and Job Zone)
How to become dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers
A step-by-step guide for this occupation is being prepared. The education, training and experience data above show the typical path.
Career path and how to earn more as dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers
Career-path guidance is being prepared. Pay by percentile is shown in the Pay section.