Restaurant Supervisor Interview Questions

The goal for a successful interview for a Restaurant Supervisor is for the candidate to showcase their experience in managing a team, ability to maintain the cleanliness and safety of the restaurant, and demonstrate exceptional customer service skills.

Situational interview questions

• Imagine you are the Restaurant Supervisor and one of your regular customers complains about receiving undercooked food. How would you handle this situation?
• As Restaurant Supervisor, you notice servers are ignoring some of the customers’ requests and their orders are wrong as a result. How would you address this issue?
• A staff member calls in sick, and you are already short-staffed. How would you manage the situation and maintain the restaurant’s operation?
• One of your staff members accidentally spills hot soup on a customer. The customer is visibly upset and demands compensation. How would you handle the situation?
• You receive a negative review on social media about the restaurant’s slow service during a busy night. How would you address the criticism and prevent the issue from happening again?

Soft skills interview questions

• How have you handled a team conflict in the past?
• Can you discuss a time when you had to resolve a customer complaint?
• How do you prioritize and manage your tasks when dealing with a busy shift?
• How do you approach training and coaching your staff to improve their skills and performance?
• Can you describe a situation where you had to adapt to unexpected changes in the restaurant environment?

Role-specific interview questions

• What steps would you take to ensure that all food handling and storage protocols are properly followed in the restaurant?
• Can you share an experience where you had to resolve a customer complaint related to the food quality or service of the restaurant? How did you handle it?
• How familiar are you with restaurant inventory and ordering systems? Can you share an example of how you have used them in the past?
• Describe your knowledge of food safety regulations and how you implement them in your daily operations.
• Can you walk me through the steps you take to train and supervise restaurant staff on proper food handling and preparation techniques?

STAR interview questions

1. Can you describe a situation where there was a customer complaint in your restaurant? What was your task in resolving the issue? What actions did you take? What was the result of your actions?

2. Talk about a time when you had to train new staff members. What was your task in training them? What actions did you take? What was the result of your training?

3. Have you ever faced a situation where there was a shortage of inventory in your restaurant? What was your task in handling the situation? What actions did you take to resolve it? What was the result of your actions?

4. Can you describe a situation where a staff member was not following company policies or procedures? What was your task in handling this situation? What actions did you take? What was the result of your actions?

5. Talk about a time when you had to organize an event or party in your restaurant? What was your task in organizing the event? What actions did you take? What was the result of the event in terms of customer satisfaction and revenue?