Guest Experience & Hospitality Lead

Job Description

Job Description

The Fattened Caf is a Filipino barbecue restaurant built around a simple mission:

Love food—but always love people more.

We care deeply about the quality of our food, but hospitality is what brings our mission to life. Every guest should feel welcomed, cared for, and appreciated from the moment they enter until the moment they leave.

Position Summary

The Guest Experience & Hospitality Lead is a hands-on front-of-house leadership support role focused on helping create a warm, organized, and consistent guest experience.

This person will support the Restaurant Manager and FOH team during daily service, help reinforce hospitality standards, assist with barista and cashier responsibilities, respond to guest needs, and help maintain a clean and welcoming dining environment.

This role does not directly manage the FOH team. Instead, the Hospitality Lead works alongside the team, helps model expectations, supports training, communicates concerns to management, and steps into any FOH position needed during service.

Most importantly, this person helps take ownership of how guests feel when they interact with The Fattened Caf.

Hospitality Responsibilities

• Bring our mission—“love food, but always love people more”—to life during every shift.
• Support the FOH team in practicing strong greetings, menu knowledge, order accuracy, communication,cleanliness, and service recovery.
• Help create a warm, welcoming, and attentive environment for every guest.
• Model professionalism, urgency, kindness, and attention to detail.
• Help reinforce hospitality standards for dine-in, takeout, catering pickup, Uber Eats, and DoorDash orders.
• Recognize returning guests and help build genuine relationships with the community.
• Look for opportunities to go beyond basic customer service and create memorable guest experiences.
• Help maintain a culture where hospitality is everyone’s responsibility.

Front-of-House Support

• Support smooth FOH service during assigned shifts.
• Maintain strong knowledge of the menu, ingredients, beverages, specials, promotions, and common allergen questions.
• Prepare and serve coffee, espresso drinks, lemonades, cocktails, beer, wine, and other beverages as assigned.
• Help maintain the dining room, counter, beverage station, pickup area, bathrooms, and entrance throughout the shift.
• Help ensure tables are cleaned quickly and the dining room remains ready for arriving guests.
• Communicate order delays, menu shortages, 86’d items, and service concerns clearly and respectfully.
• Work closely with the kitchen team to support accurate wait-time expectations and smooth FOH and BOH communication.
• Assist with opening, shift-change, and closing procedures.
• Help FOH and BOH staff stay organized and communicate priorities during busy periods.
• Help monitor the flow of service and communicate concerns to the Restaurant Manager.
• Ensure guests are greeted promptly and orders are entered accurately.

Takeout and Delivery Orders

• Help confirm pickup and delivery orders are complete, correctly labeled, and packaged properly.
• Check for sauces, utensils, napkins, beverages, sides, rice, and other requested items before orders leave.
• Review tickets and special instructions carefully.
• Ensure Uber Eats and DoorDash bags are handed directly to the correct driver.
• Help reduce missing items, incorrect substitutions, and avoidable guest complaints.
• Bring order concerns to management quickly when additional support is needed.

Guest Concerns and Service Recovery

• Listen carefully and respectfully when a guest has a concern.
• Replace missing or incorrect items when authorized.
• Share recurring complaints or service issues with management so they can be addressed.
• Help turn mistakes into opportunities to rebuild trust with guests.
• Help resolve simple guest issues within company guidelines.
• Remain calm, kind, and solutions-focused during difficult interactions.
• Escalate larger concerns to the Restaurant Manager or Director of Operations.

Team Support and Training

• Support the onboarding and training of new FOH and barista employees.
• Communicate performance concerns to the Restaurant Manager rather than handling disciplinary matters directly.
• Participate in FOH meetings, training sessions, and hospitality development.
• Help maintain strong communication between management, FOH, BOH, and catering operations.
• Model strong habits and help answer questions during service.
• Offer respectful peer support and reminders when appropriate.
• Help reinforce assigned positions, priorities, side work, and hospitality expectations.
• Recognize strong teamwork and excellent guest service.

Cleanliness and Organization

• Maintain clean and organized FOH workstations throughout the shift.
• Help ensure the dining room, bathrooms, beverage station, service counter, pickup shelves, and entrance meet cleanliness standards.
• Monitor FOH supplies and communicate low inventory to management.
• Complete assigned opening and closing checklists accurately.
• Follow all food-safety, sanitation, alcohol-service, and workplace-safety requirements.

What Success Looks Like

A successful Guest Experience & Hospitality Lead:

• Helps create an environment where guests feel genuinely welcomed and cared for.
• Models The Fattened Caf’s values in both words and actions.
• Supports a confident, organized, and hospitality-focused FOH team.
• Helps improve order accuracy and reduce missing-item complaints.
• Communicates effectively with guests, coworkers, and management.
• Stays composed and helpful during busy periods.
• Notices problems and brings them to the right person quickly.
• Takes initiative without overstepping management responsibilities.
• Protects the guest experience while supporting smooth restaurant operations.

Qualifications

• Previous restaurant, café, barista, retail, or hospitality experience required.
• Experience with Square, Uber Eats, DoorDash, coffee service, or beverage service is helpful but not required.
• Must be dependable, punctual, and available during the restaurant’s busiest service periods.
• Must be able to stand for extended periods and lift restaurant supplies and equipment as required.
• Previous lead, trainer, or senior team-member experience preferred.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
• Comfortable supporting and encouraging coworkers.
• Able to handle guest concerns with patience and professionalism.
• Able to work quickly and stay organized in a high-volume environment.
• Strong attention to detail, especially with order accuracy and cleanliness.

Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate is naturally hospitable, emotionally mature, observant, and supportive.

They understand that hospitality is more than being friendly. It means anticipating needs, solving problems, communicating clearly, maintaining standards, and making people feel valued—even when the restaurant is busy.

They are comfortable leading by example, supporting coworkers, and helping management maintain a strong guest experience without needing to be the direct supervisor.

They take pride in excellent food but believe, as we do, that loving people comes first.