Restaurant general manager resume drafts often fail because they bury impact under task lists and generic summaries. That costs you in ATS screening and rapid recruiter scans, where competition is high and decisions happen fast.
A strong resume shows what you improved and how you led. Learning how to make your resume stand out is essential—you should highlight revenue growth, labor cost reduction, higher guest satisfaction scores, stronger health inspection results, lower turnover, larger headcount, and smoother peak-shift execution.
Key takeaways
- Quantify achievements with revenue, cost, retention, and compliance metrics in every experience bullet.
- Use reverse-chronological format if you have direct restaurant management experience to show.
- Tailor resume language to mirror each job posting's systems, KPIs, and terminology.
- Place skills above experience when switching careers or lacking direct general manager titles.
- Pair hard skills like P&L management with soft skills like team coaching for a balanced profile.
- Write a three- to four-line summary highlighting scope, results, and dining environment type.
- Use Enhancv to turn routine duties into measurable, recruiter-ready bullet points faster.
Job market snapshot for restaurant general managers
We analyzed 4,861 recent restaurant general manager job ads across major US job boards. These numbers help you understand employer expectations, salary landscape, industry demand at a glance.
What level of experience employers are looking for restaurant general managers
| Years of Experience | Percentage found in job ads |
|---|---|
| 1–2 years | 31.9% (1553) |
| 3–4 years | 5.0% (243) |
| 5–6 years | 0.6% (31) |
| 7–8 years | 0.0% (2) |
| 10+ years | 8.7% (421) |
| Not specified | 53.7% (2611) |
Restaurant general manager ads by area of specialization (industry)
| Industry (Area) | Percentage found in job ads |
|---|---|
| Finance & Banking | 83.1% (4039) |
| Education | 8.4% (409) |
| Healthcare | 6.2% (302) |
| Travel & Hospitality | 1.9% (94) |
| Retail & E-commerce | 0.3% (15) |
Top companies hiring restaurant general managers
| Company | Percentage found in job ads |
|---|---|
| Taco Bell | 75.1% (3649) |
| Pizza Hut | 17.8% (865) |
| Dunkin' | 1.7% (81) |
| Zaxby's | 1.0% (50) |
| Golden Corral | 0.6% (29) |
| Grand Mere Restaurant Group | 0.5% (24) |
| Papa John's | 0.5% (22) |
| The Indigo Road | 0.5% (22) |
| KFC | 0.2% (11) |
Role overview stats
These tables show the most common responsibilities and employment types for restaurant general manager roles. Use them to align your resume with what employers expect and to understand how the role is structured across the market.
Day-to-day activities and top responsibilities for a restaurant general manager
| Responsibility | Percentage found in job ads |
|---|---|
| Accounting | 14.6% (711) |
| Digital tools | 14.1% (684) |
| P&l analysis | 14.0% (681) |
| Restaurant maintenance | 13.5% (656) |
| Analytical skills | 12.7% (618) |
| Food safety | 12.7% (616) |
| Business math | 11.2% (546) |
| Occupational health | 9.8% (476) |
| Decision-making | 9.1% (442) |
| Training | 8.2% (398) |
| Basic business math | 8.0% (388) |
| Recruiting | 8.0% (388) |
How to format a restaurant general manager resume
Recruiters evaluating restaurant general manager candidates prioritize operational leadership, P&L accountability, team management scope, and measurable business results. A clear, well-structured resume format ensures these signals surface immediately during both human review and applicant tracking system (ATS) scans.
I have significant experience in this role—which format should I use?
Use a reverse-chronological format—it's the strongest choice for experienced restaurant general managers because it foregrounds your leadership trajectory and operational impact at each venue. Do:
- Lead with your most recent role and clearly define scope: number of locations, team size, annual revenue managed, and reporting structure.
- Highlight restaurant-specific expertise such as food cost management, labor scheduling platforms, health and safety compliance, POS systems, and vendor negotiations.
- Quantify business outcomes tied directly to your decisions—revenue growth, cost reductions, guest satisfaction improvements, and employee retention rates.
I'm junior or switching into this role—what format works best?
A hybrid format works best because it lets you lead with transferable skills and relevant competencies while still showing a clear employment timeline. Do:
- Place a focused skills section near the top featuring areas like team leadership, inventory management, guest relations, and food safety certification.
- Include assistant manager roles, shift lead experience, or hospitality projects that demonstrate progressive responsibility and readiness for general management.
- Connect every action to a result so hiring managers can see the impact of your work, even if the scope was smaller.
Why not use a functional resume?
A functional resume strips away the employment context that hiring managers rely on to evaluate your growth, consistency, and readiness for general management responsibilities.
- Career changers from hospitality-adjacent roles (hotel management, catering, event coordination) who have relevant skills but no direct restaurant general manager title.
- Candidates re-entering the restaurant industry after a gap, with prior management experience that still demonstrates operational competence.
- Recent graduates of hospitality management programs with internship or practicum experience but limited full-time employment history.
With your format established, the next step is filling it with the right sections to showcase your qualifications effectively.
What sections should go on a restaurant general manager resume
Recruiters expect a restaurant general manager resume to show operational leadership, measurable performance, and consistent team execution. Understanding which resume sections to include helps you present your qualifications with maximum clarity.
Use this structure for maximum clarity:
- Header
- Summary
- Experience
- Skills
- Projects
- Education
- Certifications
- Optional sections: Awards, Leadership, Languages
Strong experience bullets should emphasize measurable results across sales, cost control, guest satisfaction, staffing, compliance, and multi-unit or high-volume scope.
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Once you’ve organized your resume with the right core components, the next step is to write your restaurant general manager experience in a way that fits those sections and shows your impact.
How to write your restaurant general manager resume experience
The experience section is where you prove you've actually run a restaurant—not just worked in one. Hiring managers scanning for a general manager want to see delivered results, operational methods you've applied, and measurable business outcomes rather than a generic list of daily duties. Building a targeted resume ensures every bullet point speaks directly to what the employer needs.
Each entry should include:
- Job title
- Company and location (or remote)
- Dates of employment (month and year)
Three to five concise bullet points showing what you owned, how you executed, and what outcomes you delivered:
- Ownership scope: the full operation, revenue centers, staff teams, vendor relationships, or location portfolios you were directly accountable for as general manager.
- Execution approach: the scheduling systems, inventory platforms, point-of-sale tools, food safety frameworks, or cost-control methods you used to run day-to-day and strategic operations.
- Value improved: the specific changes you drove in food cost margins, labor efficiency, guest satisfaction scores, health and safety compliance, table turnover, or employee retention.
- Collaboration context: how you partnered with kitchen leadership, front-of-house supervisors, corporate stakeholders, suppliers, or local health and licensing authorities to keep the restaurant performing.
- Impact delivered: the business-level outcomes your management produced—expressed through revenue growth, cost reductions, improved guest metrics, team development results, or successful openings and turnarounds rather than routine task descriptions.
Experience bullet formula
A restaurant general manager experience example
✅ Right example - modern, quantified, specific.
Restaurant General Manager
Harbor & Hearth Bistro | Austin, TX
2021–Present
High-volume, full-service neighborhood bistro serving 350–500 covers per day with bar, patio, and catering.
- Led weekly labor planning in 7shifts and Toast reporting, cutting labor cost from 32% to 28% while maintaining guest wait times under twelve minutes during peak service.
- Implemented Toast handheld ordering and kitchen display system routing, reducing ticket times by 18% and increasing table turns by 0.4 per shift through tighter expo and server workflows.
- Negotiated vendor contracts and standardized par levels using MarginEdge and Google Sheets, lowering food cost by 2.1 points and reducing stockouts by 35% across 1,200 stock keeping units.
- Built a training and coaching program in Trainual with ServSafe recertification, improving mystery shop scores from 84 to 93 and cutting first-ninety-day turnover by 22%.
- Partnered with marketing and delivery platforms (OpenTable, DoorDash, and Instagram scheduling) to optimize reservations and off-premise mix, growing monthly revenue by 11% and lifting average check by 6%.
Now that you've seen what a strong experience section looks like in practice, let's break down how to adjust yours to match a specific job posting.
How to tailor your restaurant general manager resume experience
Recruiters evaluate your restaurant general manager resume through both human review and applicant tracking systems. Tailoring your resume to the job description ensures your qualifications stand out in both screening methods.
Ways to tailor your restaurant general manager experience:
- Match POS systems and inventory platforms named in the posting.
- Mirror the exact food safety standards or certifications required.
- Use the same terminology for labor cost or scheduling processes.
- Reflect revenue targets or guest satisfaction KPIs the employer tracks.
- Highlight multi-unit or high-volume experience when the role specifies it.
- Emphasize health code compliance and inspection readiness if mentioned.
- Align staff training and development methods with their stated approach.
- Reference front-of-house and back-of-house workflow models they describe.
Tailoring means aligning your real accomplishments with the employer's stated requirements, not forcing keywords where they don't belong.
Resume tailoring examples for restaurant general manager
| Job description excerpt | Untailored | Tailored |
|---|---|---|
| Oversee daily operations including food safety compliance, labor scheduling, and P&L management for a high-volume, full-service restaurant generating $4M+ in annual revenue. | Managed restaurant operations and supervised staff to ensure smooth daily functioning. | Directed daily operations for a full-service restaurant generating $4.2M in annual revenue, managing P&L accountability, labor scheduling for 55+ employees, and maintaining a 98% food safety audit pass rate. |
| Drive guest satisfaction scores by implementing service training programs, resolving escalated complaints, and maintaining brand standards across front-of-house and back-of-house teams. | Helped improve customer service and handled guest complaints when they came up. | Designed and rolled out a quarterly service training program across FOH and BOH teams, lifting guest satisfaction scores from 78% to 91% within eight months while resolving escalated complaints within a 24-hour response window. |
| Recruit, develop, and retain hourly and salaried team members by building a coaching culture, conducting performance reviews, and reducing annual turnover below 60%. | Responsible for hiring and managing employees at the restaurant. | Built a coaching culture across a 60-person team by leading structured performance reviews and individualized development plans, reducing annual turnover from 85% to 54% and cutting average time-to-fill for hourly roles to 12 days. |
Once you’ve aligned your experience with the role’s priorities, quantify your achievements to show the measurable impact behind those responsibilities.
How to quantify your restaurant general manager achievements
Quantifying your achievements proves you drove results, not just responsibilities. Focus on revenue growth, labor and food cost control, speed of service, guest satisfaction, and compliance or safety outcomes.
Quantifying examples for restaurant general manager
| Metric | Example |
|---|---|
| Revenue growth | "Increased monthly sales 12% ($85K to $95K) in six months by adding a weekend brunch menu and upsell scripting for servers." |
| Labor efficiency | "Reduced labor cost from 31% to 28% of sales by rebuilding schedules in 7shifts and cross-training eight team members." |
| Food cost control | "Cut food cost 2.1 points (34.5% to 32.4%) by tightening portion controls, weekly inventory counts, and vendor re-bids." |
| Service speed | "Improved ticket times 18% (16 to 13 minutes) by redesigning line stations and implementing expo checklists during peak hours." |
| Compliance and safety | "Passed three consecutive health inspections with zero critical violations by enforcing daily temperature logs and monthly ServSafe refreshers." |
Turn vague job duties into measurable, recruiter-ready resume bullets in seconds with Enhancv's Bullet Point Generator.
Once you've crafted strong bullet points for your experience section, it's equally important to highlight the right hard and soft skills that reinforce your qualifications as a restaurant general manager.
How to list your hard and soft skills on a restaurant general manager resume
Your skills section shows recruiters and an ATS (applicant tracking system) you can run profitable shifts, keep operations compliant, and lead teams; aim for a balanced mix of hard skills like labor and inventory control and soft skills like coaching and conflict resolution. restaurant general manager roles require a blend of:
- Product strategy and discovery skills
- Data, analytics, and experimentation skills
- Delivery, execution, and go-to-market discipline
- Soft skills
Your skills section should be:
- Scannable (bullet-style grouping).
- Relevant to the job post.
- Backed by proof in experience bullets.
- Updated with current tools.
Place your skills section:
- Above experience if you're junior or switching careers.
- Below experience if you're mid/senior with strong achievements.
Hard skills
- Labor forecasting and scheduling
- Cost of goods sold control
- Inventory management and ordering
- Recipe costing and menu engineering
- Point-of-sale systems, Toast, Square
- Reservation systems, OpenTable, Resy
- Food safety and sanitation compliance
- Alcohol service compliance, ID checks
- Vendor negotiation and contract pricing
- Profit and loss statements
- Cash handling and deposit controls
- Preventive maintenance coordination
Soft skills
- Coach and develop shift leaders
- Set clear shift priorities
- Resolve guest escalations fast
- Hold teams accountable to standards
- Communicate changes across shifts
- Run effective pre-shift meetings
- Make data-backed decisions under pressure
- Partner with kitchen and front of house
- De-escalate team conflict professionally
- Lead by example during rushes
- Follow through on corrective actions
- Manage competing priorities daily
How to show your restaurant general manager skills in context
Skills shouldn't live only in a bulleted list on your resume. Explore examples of resume skills to see how top candidates weave competencies throughout their documents.
They should be demonstrated in:
- Your summary (high-level professional identity)
- Your experience (proof through outcomes)
Here's what strong, skill-rich writing looks like in practice.
Summary example
Restaurant general manager with 12 years leading high-volume dining operations. Skilled in P&L management, Toast POS, and team development. Reduced annual food waste costs by 18% through inventory optimization and vendor renegotiation.
- Reflects senior-level career depth
- Names industry-specific tools clearly
- Quantifies a meaningful cost outcome
- Signals leadership and coaching ability
Experience example
Restaurant General Manager
The Copper Table | Austin, TX
March 2019–Present
- Managed a $4.2M annual budget using Restaurant365, cutting overhead costs by 14% through smarter labor scheduling and supply chain adjustments.
- Collaborated with the executive chef and marketing team to launch seasonal menus, boosting average guest check size by 9%.
- Trained and retained a 45-person staff using structured onboarding programs, reducing annual turnover from 82% to 51%.
- Every bullet includes measurable proof
- Skills surface naturally through real achievements
Once you’ve demonstrated your management strengths through specific, results-focused examples, the next step is adapting that approach to build a restaurant general manager resume when you don’t have direct experience.
How do I write a restaurant general manager resume with no experience
Even without full-time experience, you can demonstrate readiness through transferable accomplishments. If you're building a resume without work experience, focus on leadership moments from adjacent roles:
- Shift lead for busy service.
- Inventory counts and ordering logs.
- Cash drawer closes and deposits.
- Food safety certification and audits.
- Scheduling for student organizations.
- Event catering coordination and setup.
- POS system training and support.
- Vendor quotes and cost comparisons.
Focus on:
- Metrics: sales, labor, waste.
- Compliance: food safety, alcohol.
- Operational systems: POS, scheduling.
- Leadership scope: team size, shifts.
Resume format tip for entry-level restaurant general manager
Use a hybrid resume format to highlight skills and projects first, while still showing work history. It helps when your leadership experience comes from substitutes. Do:
- Add a "Relevant projects" section.
- Quantify results: labor, waste, sales.
- List tools: POS, scheduling software.
- Mirror the job post keywords.
- Include certifications and dates.
- Led POS system training for eight volunteers during a campus dining fundraiser, cutting checkout errors by 30% and reducing average ticket time by 20 seconds.
Once you've positioned your transferable skills and relevant achievements to compensate for a lack of direct experience, highlighting your education strategically can further strengthen your candidacy.
How to list your education on a restaurant general manager resume
Your education section helps hiring teams confirm you have foundational knowledge in business, hospitality, or management. It quickly validates your academic background for the restaurant general manager role.
Include:
- Degree name
- Institution
- Location
- Graduation year
- Relevant coursework (for juniors or entry-level candidates)
- Honors & GPA (if 3.5 or higher)
Skip month and day details—list the graduation year only.
Here's a strong education entry for a restaurant general manager resume.
Example education entry
Bachelor of Science in Hospitality Management
University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL
Graduated 2019
GPA: 3.7/4.0
- Relevant Coursework: Food & Beverage Operations, Restaurant Financial Management, Workforce Leadership
- Honors: Magna Cum Laude, Dean's List (six consecutive semesters)
How to list your certifications on a restaurant general manager resume
Certifications on your resume show a restaurant general manager's commitment to learning, proficiency with key tools, and relevance to food safety, service standards, and operations. They also signal credibility when you manage teams, compliance, and guest experience.
Include:
- Certificate name
- Issuing organization
- Year
- Optional: credential ID or URL
- Place certifications below education when your degree is recent and closely tied to restaurant general manager work.
- Place certifications above education when they are recent, highly relevant, or required for restaurant general manager roles.
Best certifications for your restaurant general manager resume
ServSafe Food Protection Manager Certification ServSafe Alcohol Certification TIPS (Training for Intervention ProcedureS) Certification National Registry of Food Safety Professionals Certified Food Safety Manager National Restaurant Association ManageFirst Professional Certification OSHA Food Safety and Hygiene Certificate American Hotel and Lodging Educational Institute Certified Restaurant Manager
Once you’ve placed your credentials where hiring managers can spot them, move on to your restaurant general manager resume summary to quickly connect those qualifications to the value you bring.
How to write your restaurant general manager resume summary
Your resume summary is the first thing a recruiter reads. A strong one instantly positions you as the right fit for a restaurant general manager role.
Keep it to three to four lines, with:
- Your title and total years of restaurant management experience.
- The type of dining environment, such as fast-casual, fine dining, or multi-unit operations.
- Core skills like P&L management, labor scheduling, inventory control, and health code compliance.
- One or two measurable wins, such as revenue growth or cost reductions you drove.
- Soft skills tied to real outcomes, like team leadership that reduced turnover or guest relations that boosted reviews.
PRO TIP
At this level, lead with operational ownership and business results. Highlight how you managed budgets, developed teams, and improved profitability. Avoid vague phrases like "passionate leader" or "results-driven professional." Recruiters want specifics—dollar figures, percentages, and team sizes prove your impact far better than motivational language ever will.
Example summary for a restaurant general manager
Restaurant general manager with eight years in high-volume, full-service dining. Oversee 45-person teams and $3.2M annual budgets. Cut food waste 18% while raising guest satisfaction scores to 94%.
Optimize your resume summary and objective for ATS
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Now that your summary is ready to showcase your leadership and results, make sure your header presents your contact details clearly so recruiters can actually reach you.
What to include in a restaurant general manager resume header
A resume header is the top section with your core identity and contacts, helping visibility, credibility, and recruiter screening for a restaurant general manager role.
Essential resume header elements
- Full name
- Tailored job title and headline
- Location
- Phone number
- Professional email
- GitHub link
- Portfolio link
A LinkedIn link helps recruiters verify experience quickly and supports screening.
Don't include a photo on a restaurant general manager resume unless the role is explicitly front-facing or appearance-dependent.
Match your header job title to the posting, and keep every link and contact detail current and easy to scan.
Example
Restaurant general manager resume header
Jordan Taylor
Restaurant General Manager | Multi-unit operations, cost control, guest experience
Austin, TX
(512) 555-01XX
your.name@enhancv.com
github.com/yourname
yourwebsite.com
linkedin.com/in/yourname
Once your contact details and role focus are easy to find at the top, add the additional sections next to round out your restaurant general manager resume with supporting details.
Additional sections for restaurant general manager resumes
Adding extra sections helps you stand out when your core experience alone doesn't fully capture your leadership range or industry credibility. For example, listing language skills on your resume can be a real differentiator in restaurants serving diverse communities.
- Languages
- Certifications (ServSafe, food safety, alcohol compliance)
- Awards and recognition
- Professional affiliations (National Restaurant Association, state hospitality groups)
- Volunteer experience
- Hobbies and interests
Once you've rounded out your resume with the right supplementary sections, it's worth pairing it with a strong cover letter to make an even greater impact.
Do restaurant general manager resumes need a cover letter
A cover letter isn't required for a restaurant general manager, but it often helps in competitive markets or when owners expect one. If you're unsure where to start, understanding what a cover letter is and how it complements your resume can give you an edge. It can make the difference when your resume needs context, or when you're targeting a specific concept.
Use a cover letter to add details your resume can't:
- Explain role and team fit by matching your leadership style to their service model, staffing reality, and guest experience standards.
- Highlight one or two outcomes, such as lowering turnover, improving food cost, or raising guest satisfaction scores, and state how you achieved them.
- Show you understand the business context by referencing their concept, peak periods, labor model, and the guests they serve.
- Address career transitions or non-obvious experience by connecting prior roles to scheduling, training, compliance, and multi-unit coordination.
Drop your resume here or choose a file.
PDF & DOCX only. Max 2MB file size.
Even if you choose to apply without a cover letter, using AI to improve your restaurant general manager resume helps you strengthen the document that carries the most weight in your application.
Using AI to improve your restaurant general manager resume
AI can sharpen your resume's clarity, structure, and impact. It helps tighten language and highlight measurable results. But overuse can strip away your authentic voice. Once your content feels clear and role-aligned, step away from AI. If you're wondering which AI is best for writing resumes, the answer depends on how much control you want over formatting and tone.
Here are 10 practical prompts to strengthen specific sections of your resume:
Tighten your summary
Quantify experience bullets
Strengthen action verbs
Align skills strategically
Refine certification details
Clarify project contributions
Trim redundant phrasing
Improve education relevance
Target job descriptions
Enhance leadership framing
Conclusion
A strong restaurant general manager resume proves results with numbers and keeps the story easy to scan. It highlights measurable outcomes, role-specific skills, and clear structure that show how you lead teams and protect margins.
Use a clean format that makes your impact clear in seconds. With solid metrics, relevant skills, and direct language, your restaurant general manager resume fits today’s hiring needs and supports near-future expectations.
