Workers in this industry perform a variety of tasks. They prepare food items from a menu or according to a customer’s order, keep food preparation and service areas clean, accept payment from customers, and provide managerial or office services, such as bookkeeping, ordering, and advertising, to the establishment. Cooks, waiters and waitresses, and combined food preparation and serving workers accounted for more than half of food services jobs.

Employees in the various food services and related occupations deal with customers in a dining area or at a service counter. Waiters and waitresses take customers’ orders, serve food and beverages, and prepare itemized checks. In fine-dining restaurants, they may describe chef’s specials and suggest wines. In some establishments, they escort customers to their seats, accept payments, and set up and clear tables. In many larger restaurants, however, these tasks may be assigned to, or shared with, other workers.

Other food services occupations include hosts and hostesses, who welcome customers, show them to their tables, and offer them menus. Bartenders fill drink orders for waiters and waitresses and from customers seated at the bar. Dining room attendants and bartender helpers assist waiters, waitresses, and bartenders by clearing, cleaning, and setting up tables, as well as keeping service areas stocked with supplies. Counter attendants take orders and serve food at counters, cafeteria steam tables, and fast-food counters. Depending on the size and type of establishment, attendants also may operate cash registers.

Combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food prepare and serve items in fast-food restaurants. Most take orders from customers at counters or drive-through windows at fast-food restaurants. They assemble orders, hand them to customers, and accept payment. Many of these workers also cook and package food, make coffee, and fill beverage cups using drink-dispensing machines.

Workers in the various food preparation occupations prepare food in the kitchen. Institution and cafeteria cooks work in the kitchens of schools, hospitals, industrial cafeterias, and other institutions, where they prepare large quantities of a small variety of menu items. Restaurant cooks usually prepare a wider selection of dishes for each meal, cooking individual servings to order. Short-order cooks prepare grilled items and sandwiches in establishments that emphasize fast service. Fast-food cooks prepare and package a limited selection of food that either is prepared to order or kept warm until sold in fast-food restaurants. Food preparation workers clean and prepare basic food ingredients, such as meats, fish, and vegetables for use in making more complex meals, keep work areas clean, and perform simple cooking tasks under the direction of the chef or head cook. Dishwashers clean dishes, glasses, pots, and kitchen accessories by hand or by machine.

Food service managers hire, train, supervise, and discharge workers in food services and drinking places establishments. They also purchase supplies, deal with vendors, keep records, and help whenever an extra hand is needed. Executive chefs oversee the kitchen, select the menu, train cooks and food preparation workers, and direct the preparation of food. In fine-dining establishments, maitre d's may serve as hosts or hostesses while overseeing the dining room. Larger establishments may employ general managers, as well as a number of assistant managers. Many managers are part owners of the establishments they manage.

Food services and drinking places may employ a wide range of other workers, including accountants, advertising and public relations workers, bookkeepers, dietitians, mechanics and other maintenance workers, musicians and other entertainers, human resources workers, and various clerks. However, many establishments may choose to contract this work to outside establishments who perform these tasks for several food services and drinking places outlets.