What qualities do restaurants look for in a hostess?

Question

I am having an interview at a casual restaurant (California Pizza Kitchen) in a few days and I was wondering, what qualities do restaurants look for in a hostess?

Answer 1

personal appearance and hygiene....and ;you must have a personality and be able to inter act with people.....  

Answer 2

Friendly and cute

Answer 3

Definitely personality and how well you react with other people, definitely appearance too, Hostesses are the first people seen when entering a resturant, dress professional with a great attitude and you'll be a shoe-in for the job! Good Luck!

Answer 4

I am not sure if your question is really specific to a HOSTESS (one who only seats people at a table) or your responsibilities may extend to a WAITRESS (serving people). Others have already pointed out many desirable qualities - friendly, cute, personality etc. I'll add a few more:

STAMINA - it's easy to smile at the beginning of the shift but after 8-10 hours of carrying around food/drinks, weaving in and out of people, upset and hungry customers etc., you still need to be able to survive and smile till the end. So physical stamina and energy is a MUST, IMO

ABILITY TO APOLOGIZE - Things go wrong in this business - food arrives late, orders get messed up, food doesn't taste good, spills happen. When dealing with customers, one absolutely needs to have the ability to apologize for mistakes... and not just for one's own mistakes but also when the cook, other waiters, cashier or which ever other restaurant employee screwed up and caused the problems. Customers will look at you and the REPRESENTATIVE of the restaurant

INTELLIGENCE - Some times things get confusing - customers are confused, restaurant employees are confused. Being able to quickly figure out and resolve issues is a key quality. Also being able to gauge what customers want and suggest something appropriately can also make a big difference for customers e.g., families with kids, young/dating couples, older couples, handicapped folks... all have different needs

BTW, good luck with the interview! If you are smart enough to ask for people's inputs here, I'm sure you will do well. Let us know in an update how it went.