Food service
Dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers
Facilitate food service. Clean tables; remove dirty dishes; replace soiled table linens; set tables; replenish supply of clean linens, silverware, glassware, and dishes; supply service bar with food; and serve items such as water, condiments, and coffee to patrons.
Median pay
$33,980
Growth to 2035
+5%
about as fast as average
Openings a year
95,300
Time to qualify*
1 month
* From a bachelor's degree in an unrelated field.
Pay
Dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers
Getting in
- Typical entry education
- No formal educational credential
- On-the-job training
- Short-term on-the-job training
- Prior experience
- None
Calculate your switch to dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers
What the work is like
Dealing with the public
Unpleasant or angry people
Time pressure
Cost of a mistake
Freedom to make decisions
Repeating the same tasks
Time standing
Exposure to disease
Dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers: 7% usually work over 40 hours a week
Core 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.
Also called: Barback · Buffet Attendant · Bus Boy · Bus Person · Busser · Dining Room Attendant · Food Service Aide · Food Service Helper
Outlook and AI
Dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers held 546,600 jobs in 2025. BLS projects 575,500 by 2035 (+5%, about as fast as average; all jobs: +3.5%).
Compare with
- Dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers vs. Food servers, nonrestaurant
- Dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers vs. Fast food and counter workers
- Dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers vs. Waiters and waitresses
- Dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers vs. Food preparation worker
- Dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers vs. Hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop
- Dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers vs. Dishwasher
- Dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers vs. Maids and housekeeping cleaners
- Dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers vs. Bartender
- Dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers vs. Cooks, short order