Restaurant general manager interview questions for hospitality recruiters
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Restaurant general manager interview questions should find out whether the candidate truly ran a restaurant's P&L, not just a shift. Start with scope (sales volume, concept, headcount), then ask for the numbers they managed: food and beverage cost, labor cost, prime cost and results against budget. Then cover food safety certification, hiring and retention, guest recovery and whether they are ready for more than one unit. The questions below come with strong answers and red flags.
This bank is for hospitality recruiters and operators hiring GMs for full-service, fast casual and quick-service restaurants. For the general structure of any screen, see phone screen questions for recruiters.
Scope: the four facts that set the level
A GM of a quick-service unit with a small crew and a GM of a high-volume full-service restaurant with a bar and a large team hold the same title and do different jobs. Get these four facts in the first minutes, from the client's role and from the candidate's current one.
| Fact | Question to ask the candidate | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Sales volume | "What were your restaurant's annual sales last year, roughly, and what's a typical week?" | The best single indicator of complexity. A GM moving up sharply in volume needs evidence they can handle it. |
| Concept and service style | "Full service, fast casual or quick service? Bar program? Catering or off-premise share?" | Beverage programs, delivery platforms and catering each bring their own controls. |
| Team size and structure | "How many hourly team members, and which managers reported to you?" | Tells you whether they managed managers or only ran shifts alongside them. |
| Ownership model | "Corporate, franchise or independent? Who did you report to?" | Franchise GMs often work to brand standards and a franchisee's budget; independent GMs may also buy, set menus and handle accounting. |
P&L and cost control questions
The fastest way to separate a GM from a strong assistant manager is to ask for numbers and then ask what moved them. Before the call, be clear on the terms the client uses. Prime cost is usually cost of goods sold plus total labor, expressed as a percentage of sales; operators differ on whether benefits and management salaries count in labor.
A worked example (invented numbers), to hear whether the candidate's figures hang together:
- Weekly sales: $80,000
- Food and beverage cost: $24,000, so cost of goods is 24,000 ÷ 80,000 = 30%
- Total labor including management: $22,400, so labor is 22,400 ÷ 80,000 = 28%
- Prime cost: 24,000 + 22,400 = $46,400, which is 58% of sales
If a candidate gives you a food cost, a labor cost and a prime cost that do not add up like this, ask how they define each. The answer tells you whether they owned the numbers.
| Question | What a strong answer sounds like | Red flags |
|---|---|---|
| What were your food cost and labor cost percentages last quarter, and what was the budget for each? | Both numbers, the budget and the variance, without hesitation: "Food ran 29.5 against a 29 budget because of a beef price spike." | "We were always on budget." Only knows labor because it was on a daily report. |
| How did you calculate actual versus theoretical food cost, and what was your gap? | Describes inventory counts, recipe costing in the inventory system, and what the variance pointed to: waste, portioning, theft, or a recipe card that was out of date. | Has never heard of theoretical food cost in a role that claims P&L ownership. |
| Tell me about a period when your labor ran over. What did you change? | A specific fix: rebuilt the schedule to sales forecasts by hour, cut a mid shift, cross-trained, tightened clock-out practices. | Cut hours without looking at service, or blames corporate budgets without describing any action. |
| Which line items on the P&L did you control directly, and which were set above you? | Separates controllables (food, beverage, labor, supplies, repairs, comps) from fixed costs (rent, royalties, corporate allocations). | Cannot say what was controllable. |
| How did you manage comps, voids and discounts? | Manager approval in the POS, weekly review of the report by employee, and one example of a problem they caught. | Never looked at the void report. |
| Which systems did you run the restaurant on? | Names the POS (Toast, Square, Oracle Simphony, NCR Voyix Aloha), scheduling (7shifts, HotSchedules), and inventory or accounting tools (Restaurant365, MarginEdge, CrunchTime), and what they used each for. | A list of brands with no sense of which reports they pulled. |
Food safety, alcohol service and compliance
Food safety certification is often a job requirement and a quick check. The FDA Food Code, the model that state and local food codes are based on, calls for the person in charge to be a certified food protection manager from an accredited program. States and localities adopt the code in different versions and with their own amendments, so confirm the rule for the job's location. The National Restaurant Association recognizes ServSafe Food Protection Manager Certification for five years, and says state or employer requirements can differ.
| Question | What a strong answer sounds like | Red flags |
|---|---|---|
| Which food protection manager certification do you hold, and when does it expire? | "ServSafe Manager, expires next spring." Or another accredited manager certification, with a date. | A ServSafe Food Handler certificate described as manager certification. Expired with no plan to renew. |
| Tell me about your last health inspection. What was found and what did you change? | Knows the result, the violations, and the corrective action: "Cold holding on the make line was at 44; we replaced a gasket and added a temp log check at 2 p.m." | "Never had a problem" after years as a GM. Blames the inspector. |
| How did you run food safety day to day? | Temperature logs, date labeling, first-in first-out, allergen procedures, handwashing checks, and a named person in charge on every shift. | Relies entirely on the kitchen manager with no checks of their own. |
| How did you handle a guest reporting a possible foodborne illness or allergic reaction? | Follows the company's incident procedure, documents details, informs the right people, and knows when the health department is involved. | Offers a comp and moves on, with no record. |
| If there is a bar: what responsible alcohol service training did your team complete, and how did you handle refusals? | Knows the state's program and whether it is required. Illinois, for example, runs BASSET as its state server training program. Describes backing a server who refused service. | No idea of the state's rules. Overruled a server to keep a regular happy. |
| How were tips pooled or shared at your restaurant, and what was your role in it? | Describes a policy set by the company and applied consistently, with managers not taking part. Under the FLSA, managers and supervisors may not keep employees' tips, including through a tip pool (DOL Fact Sheet #15). | Took a share of the pool, or decided distributions informally. Raise it with the client as a compliance question rather than a judgment. |
Staffing, turnover and scheduling
Restaurants live and die by staffing. Ask about the systems the GM built, not their personal enthusiasm for people.
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"How many people did you hire last year, and where did they come from?"
- Strong answer: a rough number, the sources that worked (employee referrals, a hiring platform, local schools), and how fast they filled shifts.
- Red flags: no idea of the number, or all hiring handled by someone else.
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"What was your hourly turnover, and how did you measure it?"
- Strong answer: a figure with the method (separations over average headcount) and one retention change they made, such as a new training schedule or a fixed schedule for tenured staff.
- Red flags: "turnover is just the industry". No measure at all.
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"Who did you develop into a manager? What did you do?"
- Strong answer: a named role (a server promoted to shift lead, a line cook to kitchen manager) and the training steps.
- Red flags: no one promoted in several years as GM.
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"How did you build the weekly schedule, and how far in advance was it posted?"
- Strong answer: forecasts by day part, labor targets by position, posted well ahead, with a process for swaps. If they worked in a city or state with scheduling laws, they know them. Oregon, for example, requires covered retail, hospitality and food service employers with at least 500 employees worldwide to give schedules 14 calendar days in advance.
- Red flags: posts the schedule a day or two before it starts, in a jurisdiction where that can trigger premium pay.
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"Tell me about a time you had to let someone go. How did you handle it?"
- Strong answer: documentation, coaching steps before termination, HR involvement, a private conversation.
- Red flags: fired someone on the spot during a shift without documentation.
Guest recovery and operations scenarios
| Scenario | What a strong answer sounds like | Red flags |
|---|---|---|
| Friday at 7:30 p.m., two cooks call out and there is a 45-minute wait. | Calls in backup from a list, moves a manager to the line, limits the menu or the waitlist, tells guests honestly about wait times, and reviews the call-out process on Monday. | Keeps seating at full pace and lets tickets pile up. |
| A regular posts a one-star review saying their steak was wrong twice and no manager came by. | Responds publicly and briefly, contacts the guest, checks what happened with the team, and fixes the table-touch expectation for managers. | Argues with the reviewer online. |
| The walk-in cooler fails on a Saturday morning. | Checks product temperatures and discards what is out of range, moves product, calls the repair vendor, documents losses, and tells the district manager. | Keeps using product without checking temperatures. |
| Your cash deposit is short for the third time this month. | Reviews drawer assignments and POS reports, tightens counting procedures, and involves loss prevention or HR before accusing anyone. | Accuses a specific employee without evidence. |
| Delivery orders are hurting dine-in ticket times. | Separates the pickup area, throttles delivery platforms during peak, and staffs an expo for off-premise. | Turns off delivery entirely without checking sales impact with the owner. |
Multi-unit readiness and openings
If the role is a GM with a path to area manager, or the client is opening new units, ask for evidence beyond one building.
- "Have you opened a restaurant? What was your part, and how many weeks before opening did you start?" Strong: hiring and training plan, vendor setup, soft opening, and what they would do differently. Red flag: joined three weeks after opening and calls it an opening.
- "Have you covered another unit, or trained managers for other locations?" Strong: specific units and outcomes. Red flag: none, for a role expected to become multi-unit within a year.
- "How would you run a restaurant you only visit twice a week?" Strong: key reports reviewed daily, clear expectations for the GM on site, a visit checklist. Red flag: plans to be in each building every day.
- "Tell me about a restaurant you turned around." Strong: a before and after in sales, costs, inspection results or turnover, with what they changed first. Red flag: results without the actions that produced them.
Knockouts, scoring and lawful phrasing
Knockouts (all must be yes)
- Has run a restaurant at a comparable volume and concept, or has a clear, recent step up in scope.
- Can state food cost, labor cost and results against budget for their current unit.
- Holds, or will obtain before the start date, the food protection manager certification the location requires.
- Can work the schedule the concept requires, including nights, weekends and holidays.
- Compensation expectation is within the client's range; see salary expectation questions for how to ask without asking pay history.
| Area | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| P&L ownership | Knows labor only | Knows the main percentages | Knows the numbers, budget, variance and actions |
| Food safety | Certification lapsed, vague on inspections | Current, general answers | Current, specific inspection history and daily systems |
| People | No hiring or promotion evidence | Hiring volume, no development | Hiring, measured turnover, managers developed |
| Guest recovery | Defensive | Reasonable | Specific actions and follow-up with the team |
| Scope fit | Smaller unit, no step up | Similar unit | Similar or larger, with openings or multi-unit exposure |
| Do not ask | Ask instead |
|---|---|
| "Do you have family commitments on weekends?" | "The GM works Friday and Saturday nights and most holidays. Can you work that schedule?" |
| "Which church do you go to on Sundays?" | "The role includes Sunday brunch shifts. Can you work those?" If a candidate asks for a religious accommodation, pass it to the client to handle. |
| "How old are you? This job is for someone with energy." | "The role involves long shifts on your feet, including helping on the line. Can you perform those duties, with or without accommodation?" |
| "What's your current salary?" | "What base and bonus do you need for a move to make sense?" |
GM screens are full of numbers, and a submittal that says "strong P&L experience" is far weaker than one that says "food cost 29.5 against 29 budget, labor 27, prime 57". Interview Signal captures the call without a bot, so you can quote the figures the candidate actually gave. Confirm them with a former district or area manager using the reference check template.
Questions people ask
What numbers should a restaurant GM know without looking them up?
Annual or weekly sales, food and beverage cost percentage, labor cost percentage, prime cost, and how their last period compared with budget. A GM who ran the P&L can give each of these and explain what moved them. A GM who only saw a labor report will know one or two.
Does a restaurant general manager need ServSafe certification?
Many operators require a food protection manager certification such as ServSafe Manager, and the FDA Food Code that state and local codes are modelled on calls for a certified food protection manager. Local rules differ by jurisdiction, so check the health department's requirement for the job's location. The National Restaurant Association recognizes ServSafe Manager certification for five years.
Can a general manager share in the tip pool?
Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, managers and supervisors may not keep employees' tips, including through a tip pool, though they may keep tips they receive directly for service they personally provided. State laws can add rules. A candidate who describes taking a share of the pool is a compliance concern worth raising with the client.
How do I check a GM's claimed results?
Ask for the numbers in the screen, write them down exactly, and ask the reference who supervised them, usually a district or area manager, to confirm the direction and rough size of the change. Specific numbers that a former supervisor recognizes are the best evidence you can get before an offer.