Hospitality glossary · Service and operations
Front of house is every part of a hospitality business the guest sees, such as the dining room, bar or reception, and the people who work there: hosts, bar staff, servers, runners and the manager on duty.
In practice
Definitions are easy. What matters is how the thing behaves in a real operation, and where it tends to go wrong.
In a restaurant it typically covers reception, bar, runners, servers and the duty manager; in a hotel it stretches to the front desk and concierge. The label matters mainly because it marks the line most operational and cultural problems run along.
Running front and back of house as two teams with two briefings. Most service failures happen at the handover between them, and a split that is managed as permanent quickly becomes permanent.
Questions
Something here that doesn’t match what you’re seeing in your own business? That is usually worth a conversation rather than another article.
Front of house is every part of a hospitality business the guest sees, such as the dining room, bar or reception, and the people who work there: hosts, bar staff, servers, runners and the manager on duty. In a restaurant it typically covers reception, bar, runners, servers and the duty manager; in a hotel it stretches to the front desk and concierge. The label matters mainly because it marks the line most operational and cultural problems run along.
Running front and back of house as two teams with two briefings. Most service failures happen at the handover between them, and a split that is managed as permanent quickly becomes permanent.
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