How to become a restaurant manager

Official title: Restaurant managers

Also called: Café manager, Catering manager, Restaurant manager

Restaurant managers plan, organize and direct the operations of cafés, restaurants and related establishments to provide dining and catering services.

Main tasks

• Planning menus in consultation with chefs and cooks
• Planning and organizing special functions
• Arranging the purchasing and pricing of goods according to budget
• Maintaining records of stock levels and financial transactions
• Ensuring that dining, kitchen and food storage facilities comply with health regulations and are clean, functional and of suitable appearance
• Conferring with customers to assess their satisfaction with meals and service
• Selecting staff, setting staff work schedules, and training and supervising waiting and kitchen staff
• Taking reservations, greeting guests and assisting in taking orders
• Negotiating arrangements with clients and suppliers
• Ensuring compliance with occupational health and safety regulations

Pay · Outlook · AI and this job

• Median pay: HK$50,000 a month
• About 1,542,900 people in 2025, and about 1,639,100 projected by 2028. (+6.2%)
• Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Related jobs

• Hotel managers

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Questions people ask

Do you need a degree to become a restaurant manager?

Not always. 26% of people in this job hold a bachelor's degree or higher.

Will AI change the work of a restaurant manager?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

• Census and Statistics Department (2021 Population Census): 2021 Population Census, Interactive Data Dissemination Service: working population by occupation (38 groups) and sex, age, education, income; median income and field of education (9 groups) (2021 Population Census), retrieved 4 October 2026
• Census and Statistics Department (General Household Survey): Median monthly employment earnings by occupation (9 groups), excluding foreign domestic helpers (Table 210-06317A); employed persons by occupation, age and sex (210-06307A) and by industry (210-06308A) (2025 annual (series to 2026-07)), retrieved 4 October 2026
• Labour and Welfare Bureau; tables published by C&SD: Mid-term Update of Manpower Projection to 2028: supplementary statistical tables (5 occupation groups, 17 selected industries) (2025 to 2028 (published 2026-09)), retrieved 4 October 2026
• International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026

Updated 4 October 2026