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Carhop Job Description: Top Duties and Qualifications

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A Carhop, or Steward, is responsible for serving food and drinks to guests who remain in their vehicles rather than come into a restaurant. Their duties include taking orders, serving food and ensuring guests have a positive dining experience.

Carhop duties and responsibilities

A Carhop must accurately take customer orders and ensure the meals served meet all company standards before being delivered to guests. They’re responsible for providing friendly, quick and polite service to guests and reporting complaints to their direct manager. 

Carhops will need to attend to guests throughout their meal, including providing drink refills, taking away trash and regularly checking in at appropriate times. When a meal concludes, the Carhop must give the guests their check, take payment, make change or operate a credit card machine. The most distinct difference between a Carhop and the related role of Server is that Carhops will provide their essential duties to customers who remain in their vehicles during their meal.

  • Accurately take orders

  • Ensure all food and drink meet company standards

  • Deliver food to guests who remain in their vehicles for their meals

  • Make change

  • Process credit card payments

  • Provide excellent customer service throughout a guest’s meal

Hire your next Carhop today.

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Hire your next Carhop today.

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Indeed’s Employer Resource Library helps businesses grow and manage their workforce. With over 15,000 articles in 6 languages, we offer tactical advice, how-tos and best practices to help businesses hire and retain great employees.

Read our editorial guidelines
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What does a Carhop do?

A Carhop is responsible for attending to guests and ensuring their satisfaction throughout their meal. As the primary point of contact for guests, a Carhop will primarily determine the experience guests have during their visit to the eating establishment. For this reason, a Carhop’s primary responsibility is to provide excellent customer service at all times.

A Carhop’s day-to-day responsibilities might include attending to guests, cleaning outdoor eating areas and emptying trash cans. Depending on the establishment, a Carhop may also perform their responsibilities on roller skates. 

Carhop skills and qualifications

A successful Carhop candidate will have excellent organizational and customer service skills. They’ll have a demonstrated history of great time management skills. Basic math skills are necessary to tally up checks, make change and otherwise handle money in a cashier role. An understanding of food safety, allergens and restaurant sanitary practices is critical to high job performance in this role.

  • Excellent organizational skills

  • Customer service skills

  • Basic understanding of math

  • Understanding of food safety and allergens

  • Understanding of restaurant sanitary practices

Carhop experience requirements

For most roles, there are no experience requirements to be a Carhop. However, some eating establishments may prefer prior experience as a server. Carhops are generally trained on-site by the company they’re hired for. 

Carhop education and training requirements

There are generally no education or training requirements to become a Carhop. Most companies train Carhops on-site for their job role as part of their onboarding. However, beneficial training may include food safety or diversity and inclusion programs. 

Carhop salary expectations

According to Indeed Salaries, the average salary for a Carhop is $10.30 per hour. Salary may vary based on experience, location and company. Tips are often factored into the salary expectations for Carhops. 

Job description samples for similar positions

If the Carhop job description isn’t quite what you’re looking for, there are other samples available. Other related titles include:

Carhop job description FAQs

Do all Carhops have to perform their duties on roller skates?

No. Although many establishments have Carhops that deliver food on roller skates, it is optional. 

What qualities make a good Carhop?

A good Carhop will possess excellent customer service skills and attention to detail. They must be able to remain on their feet for up to eight hours a day. Additionally, a good Carhop will have great organizational skills to manage multiple guests at a time and have strong cashier skills. 

Who does a Carhop report to?

A Carhop will report to their direct manager. Generally, this will be the shift manager or front-of-house manager. However, smaller establishments may have the Carhop report directly to the owner. 

Do Carhops have different responsibilities in different industries?

Carhop responsibilities remain the same throughout different industries. The one potential difference is that some Carhops may have the option to carry out their day-to-day responsibilities on roller skates.

What is the difference between a Carhop and a Server?

A Carhop serves guests who remain in their vehicles during their meal. A Server generally serves guests who come inside an establishment to eat.

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Three individuals are sitting at a table with a laptop, a disposable coffee cup, notebooks, and a phone visible. Two are facing each other, while the third’s back is to the camera. The setting appears to be a bright room with large windows.

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