Breakfast & Dinner Captain / Fine Dining Server
MacCallum House Restaurant – Mendocino, CA
Pay: $16.90 per hour, plus tips
Job Type: Part-time
Classification: Hourly, nonexempt
Work Location: In person
About the Position
MacCallum House Restaurant is seeking an experienced Breakfast & Dinner Captain / Fine Dining Server to provide polished, attentive service and help coordinate the flow of the dining room during assigned shifts.
The Captain serves an assigned section while also helping the front-of-house team maintain consistent service standards, communication, timing, and attention to detail. The ideal candidate has strong fine-dining experience, excellent food and beverage knowledge, and the ability to create a warm, professional, and memorable experience for every guest.
This is a hands-on service position and is not a restaurant management role.
Essential Responsibilities
- Welcome guests and provide warm, polished, and attentive service.
- Accurately describe menu items, daily specials, ingredients, preparation methods, and available modifications.
- Demonstrate knowledge of wine, cocktails, spirits, and appropriate food and beverage pairings.
- Take food and beverage orders accurately and enter them promptly into the point-of-sale system.
- Coordinate the timing, presentation, and delivery of each course with kitchen and front-of-house team members.
- Serve food, wine, and other beverages using appropriate fine-dining service techniques.
- Monitor assigned tables, anticipate guest needs, and respond promptly to special requests.
- Identify and clearly communicate food allergies, dietary restrictions, celebrations, and other important guest information.
- Process guest payments and complete assigned checkout procedures accurately.
- Review reservations, table assignments, menu changes, special events, and service priorities before each shift.
- Help communicate opening, closing, side-work, and service responsibilities to the front-of-house team.
- Support the host team in maintaining appropriate seating, pacing, and table flow.
- Assist servers, bussers, hosts, bartenders, and other team members as service needs change.
- Help orient and train new front-of-house employees on service expectations and restaurant procedures.
- Professionally address routine guest concerns and promptly involve management when additional assistance is needed.
- Maintain clean, organized, and fully stocked dining and service areas.
- Complete opening, closing, side-work, cash-handling, and sales-reporting responsibilities.
- Assist with private dining, special events, and banquet service when scheduled.
- Follow all food safety, sanitation, responsible alcohol service, workplace safety, and incident-reporting procedures.
- Perform other related duties reasonably assigned based on restaurant needs.
Qualifications
Required
- Previous restaurant serving experience.
- Strong hospitality and guest-service skills.
- Professional communication and dining-room presence.
- Ability to learn and accurately explain detailed food, wine, beverage, and allergy information.
- Ability to remain composed, organized, and attentive in a fast-paced environment.
- Strong teamwork, judgment, and problem-solving skills.
- Ability to accurately process payments and complete basic mathematical calculations.
- Reliable attendance and punctuality.
- Ability to work breakfast, dinner, weekend, holiday, and special-event shifts as scheduled.
- Must be at least 18 years old due to the alcohol-service responsibilities of the position.
- Ability to obtain and maintain all legally required food-handler and alcohol-service certifications.
Preferred
- At least two years of serving experience in a fine-dining, upscale, or high-volume restaurant.
- Previous experience as a dining-room captain, lead server, shift lead, or server trainer.
- Strong knowledge of wine service, cocktails, spirits, and food and beverage pairings.
- Experience with OpenTable or a similar reservation system.
- Experience with restaurant point-of-sale systems.
- Current California Food Handler Card.
- Current California Responsible Beverage Service certification.
Schedule
This position may include:
- Breakfast shifts.
- Dinner shifts.
- Weekends and holidays.
- Private events and special functions.
- Additional shifts based on business and staffing needs.
Scheduling flexibility and dependable attendance are essential.
Physical Requirements
The essential functions of this position include, with or without reasonable accommodation:
- Standing and walking for extended periods.
- Frequently bending, reaching, carrying, and moving through restaurant and kitchen areas.
- Safely carrying trays, plates, glassware, beverages, and restaurant supplies.
- Regularly lifting and carrying up to 25 pounds and occasionally lifting heavier items with assistance.
- Working around hot surfaces, sharp objects, wet or slippery floors, cleaning products, and varying noise levels.
- Communicating effectively with guests and coworkers in a busy restaurant environment.
Compensation and Benefits
- Base pay of $16.90 per hour.
- Tips in addition to the base hourly wage.
- Employee discount.
- Shift meal or food provided in accordance with company policy.
- Paid sick leave in accordance with California law.
- Flexible scheduling based on business and staffing needs.
Benefits and scheduling are subject to eligibility and current company policy.
Pay: From $16.90 per hour
Work Location: In person
