A one page application you can copy, what to ask, what to leave off, and how to screen applicants in five minutes.
By Rob Bruni, founder of OpsEdge Hospitality, twenty years running restaurants, bars, clubs and resorts. Updated November 2026.
A restaurant job application has one job: tell you in two minutes whether this person can work the shifts you need, has done the work before, and is worth a phone call. Most applications fail at that because they are generic forms built for an office. This guide gives you a one page restaurant job application template you can copy and edit, explains each section, lists the questions to leave off, and shows how we screen a stack of applications quickly without missing the good ones.
A resume tells you what the applicant wants you to know. An application asks every applicant the same questions in the same order, so you can compare them fairly and quickly. In a restaurant that matters more than in most businesses, because the first question is rarely about experience. It is whether the person can work Friday and Saturday nights, Sunday brunch, or the 5 a.m. prep shift you cannot fill.
A good application also protects you. It records that the applicant confirmed they can legally work, that what they wrote is true, and that they agreed to a reference check. Asking everyone the same job related questions is the simplest way to keep hiring consistent.
Keep it to one page, front only if you can. Every extra question lowers the number of people who finish it, and line cooks and dishwashers will not fill in four pages.
| Section | What to ask | Why it is there |
|---|---|---|
| Contact | Name, phone, email, city, best time to call | You will call or text within a day |
| Position | Role applied for, full or part time, date available, how they heard about the job | Routes the application to the right manager |
| Availability | Earliest start and latest finish for each day, weekends and holidays | The most common reason a hire does not work out |
| Eligibility | Legally authorized to work in the United States, meets the minimum age for the role, reliable way to get to work | Yes or no questions that keep you out of trouble |
| Experience | Last two or three jobs: employer, position, dates, reason for leaving, supervisor | Shows tenure and gives you references |
| Skills and certifications | Food handler card, alcohol server certificate, POS systems, stations worked, languages | Shortens training and flags expiring cards |
| Statement and signature | Information is true, reference check permission, at will statement, signature and date | Your record that they agreed |
Copy the text below into Word or Google Docs, add your restaurant name and logo, and adjust the roles and certifications to fit your operation. The questions are written to work for front and back of house.
[RESTAURANT NAME] EMPLOYMENT APPLICATION
We are an equal opportunity employer. We consider all applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability or any other status protected by law.
1. Contact
Full name: ______________________________ Date: ______________
Phone: ____________________ OK to text? Yes / No
Email: ______________________________ City and ZIP: ____________________
Best time to reach you: ____________________
2. Position
Position applying for (circle): Server / Bartender / Host / Busser / Food runner / Line cook / Prep cook / Dishwasher / Manager / Other: __________
Looking for: Full time / Part time / Seasonal. Hours wanted per week: ______
Date you can start: ______________ How did you hear about us? ____________________
Have you worked for us before? Yes / No. If yes, when: ______________
3. Availability (write the earliest you can start and the latest you can work, or OFF)
| Day | Earliest start | Latest finish |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | ________ | ________ |
| Tuesday | ________ | ________ |
| Wednesday | ________ | ________ |
| Thursday | ________ | ________ |
| Friday | ________ | ________ |
| Saturday | ________ | ________ |
| Sunday | ________ | ________ |
Can you work weekends? Yes / No. Holidays? Yes / No
Do you have another job or school schedule we should plan around? ______________________________
4. Eligibility
Are you legally authorized to work in the United States? Yes / No (proof is required after an offer)
Are you at least 18 years old? Yes / No. If the position serves alcohol, do you meet the minimum age to serve in this state? Yes / No
Do you have a reliable way to get to and from work for the shifts listed above? Yes / No
Can you perform the essential duties of this position, with or without reasonable accommodation? Yes / No
5. Work experience (most recent first)
Employer: ____________________ City: ______________ Position: ______________
Dates: ________ to ________ Supervisor: ______________ May we contact? Yes / No
Reason for leaving: ______________________________
Employer: ____________________ City: ______________ Position: ______________
Dates: ________ to ________ Supervisor: ______________ May we contact? Yes / No
Reason for leaving: ______________________________
Employer: ____________________ City: ______________ Position: ______________
Dates: ________ to ________ Supervisor: ______________ May we contact? Yes / No
Reason for leaving: ______________________________
6. Skills and certifications
Food handler card: Yes / No. Expires: ________ Alcohol server certificate: Yes / No. Expires: ________
Food protection manager certificate: Yes / No. Expires: ________
POS systems you have used: ______________________________
Stations or sections you have worked: ______________________________
Languages you speak: ______________________________
7. Two questions
What is the busiest shift you have ever worked, and what was your job that night? ______________________________
Why do you want to work here? ______________________________
8. Statement and signature
I certify that the information on this application is true and complete. I understand that false or missing information may be a reason not to hire me, or to end my employment if I am hired. I authorize [RESTAURANT NAME] to contact the employers and references listed above. I understand that this application is not a contract and that, if hired, my employment is at will, which means either I or the company may end it at any time, as allowed by law.
Signature: ______________________________ Date: ______________
This template is a starting point and not legal advice. Hiring rules differ by state and city (Montana, for one, does not follow the usual at will rule), so have a local employment attorney or your state restaurant association review the final form.
Most restaurant hires that fail in the first month fail on schedule, not skill. The applicant said open availability, then mentioned a second job and a class on Tuesday and Thursday nights after the first schedule was posted. A grid with a start and finish time for every day gets that conversation out of the way before the interview.
Anything that does not relate to doing the job should come off the form. Federal law, and many state and city laws, protect applicants from decisions based on personal characteristics, and a question on the application is evidence that the answer was considered.
| Leave off | Ask this instead, if you need it |
|---|---|
| Date of birth, age, graduation year | Are you at least 18? Do you meet the minimum age to serve alcohol? |
| Citizenship, birthplace, native language | Are you legally authorized to work in the United States? |
| Social Security number | Collect it after the offer, with the tax and I-9 paperwork |
| Marital status, children, pregnancy, childcare | Can you work the schedule listed for this position? |
| Health, disabilities, medications, past injury claims | Can you perform the essential duties, with or without reasonable accommodation? |
| Religion or days of worship | The availability grid |
| Arrests and convictions | Check your state and city first. Many limit or delay criminal history questions until later in hiring. |
| Past pay or salary history | What pay are you looking for? Many states ban the salary history question. |
| Photo | Nothing. You will meet them at the interview. |
If you hire workers under 18, check your state rules on work permits, hours and equipment. Federal child labor rules limit the hours 14 and 15 year olds can work and keep anyone under 18 off equipment such as meat slicers. Our interview questions guide covers the same ground for the questions you ask in person.
Speed wins in restaurant hiring. Good hourly applicants are usually applying to three or four places in the same week, and the first manager to call often gets them. We sort every application the day it arrives.
Then sort into three piles: call today, maybe, and no. Call the first pile within 24 hours for a ten minute phone screen, and book the in person interview on that call. Reply to everyone else too. A short thank you text costs nothing, and today's no is often next season's hire. The full process, from job post to day 90, is in our hiring and training guide.
Use both. Keep printed applications at the host stand for walk ins, and put the same questions in a free online form (Google Forms works) that feeds a spreadsheet. Print a QR code to the form and post it on the door, the menu board and the bottom of the receipt. The questions should be identical in both versions so every applicant is asked the same thing.
Whichever way they arrive, log every application in one place with the date, the position, the status and the next step. A simple applicant tracker stops good people from sitting in a folder for two weeks.
The Restaurant HR Kit covers the next steps in hiring: job descriptions for 15 food and beverage roles, an interview guide, an applicant tracker and an employee handbook, in editable files.
See the Restaurant HR Kit Manager job descriptionsKeep every application, including the ones you did not hire. Federal rules require most employers to keep applications and other hiring records for at least one year from the date of the application or the hiring decision, whichever is later, and some states require longer. Many operators keep them for two or three years to be safe.
Contact details, the position and hours wanted, a day by day availability grid, yes or no eligibility questions (work authorization, minimum age, transportation), the last two or three jobs with dates and reasons for leaving, certifications such as a food handler card, and a signed statement that the information is true. One page is enough.
Yes. The template on this page is free to copy. Paste it into Word or Google Docs, add your restaurant name, and edit the roles and certifications to match your operation. Have it reviewed for your state before you use it.
Avoid anything about age or date of birth, race, religion, national origin or citizenship, marital status, children or pregnancy, health or disability, and a photo. Many states and cities also restrict questions about criminal history and salary history. Ask only what relates to doing the job.
Yes. Asking which days and hours an applicant can work is job related and is the most useful part of a restaurant application. Ask everyone the same way, and do not ask why someone is unavailable on a given day.
Both. Keep paper copies for walk ins and use an online form with the same questions for everyone else, reached by a QR code on the door or a link in the job post. Log every application in one tracker so nothing gets lost.
Federal rules require most employers to keep applications for at least one year, and some states require longer. Many restaurants keep them for two or three years, stored securely, and then shred them.
