Questions to Ask a Restaurant Manager in an Interview
Questions to ask in an interview for a restaurant manager job, from both sides of the table. The first five groups are for the candidate: why the job is open, what a day and a week look like, the numbers you would be held to, the team you would inherit and what gives first on a Friday night. The last group is for an owner or general manager working out which questions to ask a restaurant manager before hiring one: the standard ones on experience, guest complaints and staff, plus scenarios to put to the candidate and what a strong answer sounds like.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
The Job
How many managers has this restaurant had in the last three years, and why did the last one leave?
Why ask it
A new location, a promotion and a manager who walked out mid-shift are three different jobs to step into. The count matters as much as the story: if three people have held the job in three years, find out what each of them ran into before you assume you would be the exception.
What does a typical day look like for the manager here?
Why ask it
Have them take you from the first key in the door to setting the alarm. You are listening for the split between the floor and the office, and for jobs the description left out, such as counting the bar, covering the host stand or doing the bank run.
What are the biggest challenges this restaurant is facing right now?
Why ask it
Food prices, a new competitor two doors down and a kitchen that cannot keep cooks each call for a different kind of manager. If you are told there are none, ask what the last manager spent most of their time fixing.
How will you judge whether I am doing well after the first three months?
Why ask it
Push for something you could check yourself: a labor percentage, a review score, a full schedule, fewer comps. 'We will know' means the standard gets set later, by whoever is unhappy that week.
How many hours does this job really take, and across which days?
Why ask it
The hours written in an offer and the hours the job takes are often two numbers, and the gap tends to be doubles and weekends. A straight answer sounds like a count of shifts: four closes, one open, Sundays off. 'Whatever it takes' is also an answer.
What authority do I have over hiring, scheduling, and comps?
Why ask it
A manager can be held to a labor number while the owner approves every hire and every schedule change. Push for limits you can repeat back: the amount you can comp without a phone call, and whether you can make an offer to a cook on the day you meet them.
Does this role run the whole building, or the front of house only?
Why ask it
The title covers both jobs. If the chef answers to the owner and not to you, you own the floor and its labor but not the food, so ask who settles it when the two of you disagree in the middle of service.
Who would I answer to, and how often would we go through the numbers together?
Why ask it
In a group it may be an area manager you see twice a month; in a family place it may be two owners who do not always agree. A set hour every week is a good sign. If meetings only happen after something has gone wrong, that is how you will hear about your work.
How often is the owner in the building, and what do they do during service?
Why ask it
An owner who greets tables and leaves you the floor is an asset. One who redraws the seating chart at seven or comps a friend's table without telling you is a second manager nobody scheduled, and the staff will learn which of you to ask.
What did the best manager this restaurant has had do differently?
Why ask it
The answer is the real job description, in the interviewer's own words. If it is someone who never took a day off, or the owner in the years before they stepped back, you know what you would be measured against.
Who else is on the management team, and how are shifts divided?
Why ask it
One manager with two shift supervisors closes far more nights than one of three managers on rotation. Sketch the week as they describe it and see where your two days off together would fall, if they exist at all.
How many closes followed by an open would I work in a normal week?
Why ask it
Locking up at one and opening again at eight wears a manager down faster than the total on a timesheet suggests. If it happens more than now and then, find out whether the schedule could be redrawn or whether that is simply the job. Some places set a minimum rest between shifts by law, so check whether one applies to this role.
Which holidays are you open, and who on the management team works them?
Why ask it
Mother's Day, New Year's Eve and the run up to Christmas are among the biggest services of the year in a lot of restaurants, so expect to work some of them. What you are checking is whether they rotate or always fall to the newest manager.
How often does a manager here get called on a day off?
Why ask it
Somebody has to be the first call for the alarm company, a callout or a void that needs a manager code. If that is you seven days a week, the days off in the offer are really days on call, and that is worth saying out loud before you accept.
Can I take a full week off, and who runs the place while I am gone?
Why ask it
If nobody else can place the orders, run payroll or close out the night, the honest answer is no, whatever the contract says about leave. Ask when a manager here last took seven days in a row.
Would my name be on the alcohol license, and what would I be personally responsible for?
Why ask it
Worth asking wherever drinks are served. Depending on where the restaurant is, the person named on the license or in charge of the shift can carry personal responsibility for how alcohol is served. Ask how it works there and what training the restaurant pays for.
Money
What are your weekly covers and average check, and how have they moved this year?
Why ask it
Covers times average check is roughly the week's sales, which is what staffing and prep are built on, and the trend tells you whether the place is growing or shrinking. An owner who has to guess at either number would be asking you to manage without them too.
What are your food and labor percentages now, and what are the targets?
Why ask it
The gap between actual and target is your job description. If nobody can say the numbers, budget control is either informal or somebody else's.
Will I see the full profit and loss statement each month, or only sales and labor?
Why ask it
A manager shown only the top of the page gets blamed for rent, repairs and a loan they never knew about. If the full statement is off limits, ask which lines your review and bonus are judged on and whether you can see those every week.
How is pay structured, and what is the bonus tied to?
Why ask it
A bonus on food cost has you weighing portions, one on labor has you sending servers home early, and one on sales has you filling the book. Find out how many of the last four quarters it paid, because a target nobody reaches is not pay.
What benefits come with the job besides the salary?
Why ask it
Health cover, paid leave, a staff meal, a phone allowance and parking all vary by employer and by country, so ask for the list in writing. Check when each one starts, since some employers make new hires wait before cover begins.
Am I salaried or hourly, and what happens when I cover a server or line shift?
Why ask it
A salaried manager is often the free labor that fixes a short schedule. Ask how many shifts the last manager spent on the floor or the line in a typical month, and how overtime is treated for this role where the restaurant is, since the rules differ by country and state.
How do tips work here, and do managers have any part in them?
Why ask it
You will be the one explaining the pool and the tip-out to every new hire and settling the arguments about it. Whether a manager may share in tips at all depends on local law, so ask how it is set up here and who checked.
How much of the revenue comes from delivery apps, catering, or private events?
Why ask it
Each of these adds work the dining room never sees. Heavy delivery means tablets, remakes and a commission off every order. Events mean someone has to sell them, plan them and staff them, and it helps to know now whether that someone is you.
Who places the orders and counts the inventory, and how often?
Why ask it
If the chef orders and you answer for food cost, you are accountable for a number someone else controls. A full count on a fixed day means the percentage is real. No regular count means it is an estimate, and so is any bonus built on it.
What equipment is on its last legs, and who approves the repair when it fails mid-service?
Why ask it
A walk-in or a dish machine that dies on a Saturday cannot wait until the owner picks up the phone. A good answer has a spending limit and a repair company's number in it. 'It has never been a problem' can mean it was the last manager's problem.
The Team
How would the people who work here describe the place?
Why ask it
'Like a family' is the stock answer, and it can mean loyal or it can mean no boundaries, so ask for an example from the past month. If you get a trial shift, put the same question to a server and a cook and compare the versions.
How many staff have left in the past year, front of house and back?
Why ask it
People come and go in restaurants, so a number above zero means little by itself. What matters is who went and where: servers leaving for a place with better tips is a pay problem, and cooks leaving one after another often has a single person at the center of it.
How long has the kitchen team been here, and who runs it?
Why ask it
Cooks who have stayed for years are usually a sign that the kitchen is paid and treated decently. Listen also to how the chef is described: a long-serving chef who is at war with the front of house is something to learn about now, not at the pass.
How many positions am I inheriting unfilled?
Why ask it
Every empty slot on the schedule is a shift that you or a cook on overtime will cover while you recruit. How long each has been open matters more than the count: a line cook job unfilled for three months is more likely a pay or reputation problem than bad luck.
How did the staff feel about the last manager?
Why ask it
You inherit either their loyalty to someone else or their relief. If the last manager was loved, you will be compared for months. If not, the team is waiting to see whether you repeat it, and it helps to know what 'it' was.
Did anyone on the current team apply for this job?
Why ask it
A supervisor who was passed over can become your strongest ally or spend six months proving the owner chose wrong. Ask whether they have been told why, and by whom, before your first shift.
Who are the two or three people this place cannot run without?
Why ask it
Most restaurants have them: the prep cook who knows the walk-in by heart, the server the regulars ask for, the dishwasher who never misses a Saturday. Learn the names now and ask how each is paid and scheduled, because losing one in your first month will be read as your doing.
Is anyone on the staff a relative or close friend of the owner?
Why ask it
It is common in independent restaurants and workable when you know about it. Ask whether they are scheduled and corrected like everyone else, and who has the conversation when they are late.
What do servers and cooks earn here, and can I change it to keep someone?
Why ask it
If the place across the street pays line cooks more and you cannot match it, the vacancies you inherit are permanent. A raise that needs the owner's signature every time can take longer than it takes a good cook to accept another offer.
Has a manager's decision to let someone go ever been overruled here?
Why ask it
This is where the authority in the job description gets tested. One reversal with a good reason is fine. A pattern means the staff already know that the way around the manager is the owner's phone number.
What does training look like for a new server or line cook?
Why ask it
A written plan with a checklist someone signs means standards exist on paper. 'They shadow someone for a shift' means every new hire learns a slightly different restaurant, and the inconsistency will be yours to fix.
How much notice do staff get for schedules, and what happens with callouts?
Why ask it
A schedule posted two days out and no callout plan mean you personally work the gaps. Ask what happened the last time two people called out on a Saturday. Some cities and countries set a minimum notice for schedules by law, so ask whether one applies here.
Operations
Walk me through a Friday night. What breaks first?
Why ask it
Most busy services have one place that gives first: the pass, the host stand, the dish pit, the card terminal. An interviewer who names it straight away is being honest with you, and has just told you what your first project would be.
Which services are your busiest, and which ones lose money?
Why ask it
A full Friday dinner is not news. The useful half is the weak shifts: a Monday lunch that never covers its labor is something you will be asked to fix or to defend, and you should know whether closing it is on the table.
How do reservations and the wait list work, and who decides how many tables to book per slot?
Why ask it
A book filled to chase sales is what buries the kitchen at half past seven. If the owner or a booking app sets the pacing, ask whether you can cap a slot on a night when you are a cook short.
How does an allergy order travel from the server's pad to the plate?
Why ask it
You want a chain with names in it: a flag on the ticket, a call at the pass, a clean board and pan, one person who carries the plate out. If the answer is that servers just tell the cook, you are the one who will be standing at the table when it goes wrong.
When was your last health inspection, and what came up?
Why ask it
Ask to see the report. In many places it is a public record anyway, and how readily they offer it tells you whether food safety is managed or simply hoped for.
Which systems do you use for scheduling, ordering, and the point of sale?
Why ask it
You are asking what your admin hours will look like. Ordering by phone from a clipboard and building the schedule in a spreadsheet take hours every week that nobody counts as work. If they name software, find out who else in the building knows how to run it.
What do your reviews complain about most, and are the reviewers right?
Why ask it
You have read them already, so this tests how the owner takes criticism. Someone who says the waits are too long and explains why is easier to work for than someone who says reviewers do not understand the concept.
What happens when a guest complaint reaches the owner?
Why ask it
Some guests skip the manager and write to the owner. Listen for what happened to the manager in the story you are told: asked for their side before anyone replied, or told about the refund after it was sent.
Which regulars should I know about, and what do they expect?
Why ask it
Some regulars come with standing arrangements: a table, an off-menu dish, a drink that never appears on the check. Better to hear the list in the interview than to charge the owner's oldest friend for a bottle in your second week.
How are menu and pricing decisions made?
Why ask it
A menu written without the floor in the room can turn out to be one the kitchen cannot cook at volume or the servers cannot explain, and the manager hears about both. Find out whether you see a new menu and its prices before it goes to print, and whether a sales report has ever taken a dish off.
What happens to hours and staff in the slow season?
Why ask it
A patio that closes in October or a campus that empties in June changes the job for months at a time. Ask whether hours are cut, people are let go and rehired, or the owner carries the payroll, and what happens to your own pay in that stretch.
Before You Decide
What does the owner want this place to be in three years?
Why ask it
An owner planning a second location needs you to train your own replacement. One getting ready to sell needs tidy numbers for a buyer, and one who wants a steady income needs nothing to change. A shrug can mean the plan moves with the season, and your targets with it.
Where can this job lead, and has a manager here moved up before?
Why ask it
General manager, a second location, a share of the profits: ask which of these exists today and which is an idea. One name of someone who was promoted out of this job is worth more than a description of the path.
What do you want changed here first, and what should a new manager not touch?
Why ask it
The first half is the real brief, which is often narrower than the job posting: ticket times, the bar's pour cost, one person. The second half brings out what is protected, such as a founding dish or a server who has been there since opening day, before you trip over it.
What does my first week look like, and who shows me the close?
Why ask it
The safe, the alarm code, the cash-out and the deposit are things a new manager is often left to work out alone at midnight. A named person and a written closing checklist are a small sign that systems exist.
Can I meet the chef before I decide?
Why ask it
The chef is the person you would stand across the pass from on a Saturday night and plan the week with on Monday. Ten minutes together tells you whether the two of you could disagree and still get plates out. If the owner would prefer you did not meet until your first day, ask why.
Could I work or watch one busy service before either of us commits?
Why ask it
A Friday on the floor shows you the pacing, the tempers and the state of the walk-in in a way an interview held at three in the afternoon cannot. Settle beforehand whether it is paid, since the rules on working trials depend on where the restaurant is.
What do you like about working here, and what has kept you?
Why ask it
Meant for a general manager or an area manager; with an owner, ask what they still enjoy about the place after the years they have put in. A quick, specific answer, such as a named regular or the way the crew covers for each other, counts for more than a speech about passion.
Is there anything about my experience that makes you hesitate?
Why ask it
It lets you answer the doubt while you are still in the room: never run a bar, never managed a kitchen, came from a chain. It also shows how direct this person is, which you will want to know before they are your boss.
Which of the things we agreed today would you put in the offer letter?
Why ask it
A comp limit, two days off together and a bonus metric are easy to promise in an empty dining room between lunch and dinner. Anything the owner will not write down is the part most likely to change after you start.
What happens next, and when do you expect to decide?
Why ask it
Find out whether a second interview, a trial service or a meeting with a business partner is still to come. A date gives you a reason to follow up without guessing, and tells you how long you would need to hold another offer.
If You're Hiring
Tell me about the last restaurant you managed: how many seats, how many staff and what kind of service?
Why ask it
The same title covers a forty-seat cafe with six staff and a dining room with a bar that turns three hundred covers on a Saturday. You are checking that the size and pace of what they ran is close to yours, and whether the figures come straight out or have to be worked up.
Why do you want to manage this restaurant in particular?
Why ask it
A candidate who wants this job mentions your menu, your neighborhood or something they saw on a visit. One who wants any job talks about being ready for a new challenge. Both may be able to do the work, but only the first has told you why they would stay.
How would the staff at your last restaurant describe you as a manager?
Why ask it
Fair, strict, calm and funny are easy to say, so ask which server or cook would say it and whether you can call them. One unflattering thing offered without being pushed, such as being short with people in a rush, makes the rest more believable.
What did food cost and labor run at your last restaurant, and which one did you personally move?
Why ask it
Someone who managed to the numbers answers in percentages and names the lever: a prep par, a portion scale, one fewer server on Tuesday lunch. 'We kept them in line' usually means someone else kept them in line.
It is six on a Saturday, the book is full, and your grill cook has not shown up. What do you do first?
Why ask it
Listen for an order of operations: who they call, what comes off the menu, whether they slow the door, whether they step onto the line themselves. Several orders are defensible. A candidate with no order has not lived that night.
What do you do when you can feel a service getting away from you?
Why ask it
This is the stress question, and the good answers are physical: move to the pass, stop seating for ten minutes, take the slowest dish off, send a server out back for two minutes before they snap. 'I stay calm under pressure' is a claim, so ask what the staff would have seen.
Tell me about a guest complaint you handled at the table and how it ended.
Why ask it
Listen for the order they did things in: hearing the guest out, fixing the plate, deciding what came off the bill, then telling the kitchen or the server what went wrong. A story that ends at the apology leaves out the part that stops it happening again.
How do you decide what to comp, and when did you last say no?
Why ask it
You are handing this person your margin. A good answer has a rule in it, such as fixing the dish first and comping only what went wrong, and a real refusal. Someone who has never said no to a guest is unlikely to start in your dining room.
The produce delivery arrives short an hour before you open. What do you do?
Why ask it
A practical answer moves fast through telling the chef what is missing, deciding what comes off the menu or gets bought down the road, and chasing the supplier for a credit. It also shows whether deliveries get checked against the invoice at the back door or discovered at six in the evening.
Build me next week's schedule from a blank page. Where do you start?
Why ask it
The answer to hope for starts from forecast sales and a labor target and fits people to it afterward. Starting from who asked for which days off is kinder and tends to cost more. Either way, find out how far ahead they post it and what they do when the forecast is wrong.
What do you look for when you hire a server or a line cook?
Why ask it
Some managers hire for experience, and some hire for attitude and train the rest. Either can work, so ask which questions they put to applicants and how many of their last few hires were still there six months later.
How do you train a new server, and how do you decide they are ready for their own section?
Why ask it
Look for stages: the menu tested before they touch a table, a few shifts following a named server, then a small section on a quiet night. Ask who signs off, and what happened to the last trainee who was not ready in time.
How do you keep a team going through a rough service, and through a dead Tuesday?
Why ask it
The two need different things. A bad night calls for a manager on the floor running food and a word with people afterward; a slow one calls for side work that matters, some training, or sending people home fairly. Be wary of an answer that is only contests and pizza.
Tell me about a conflict between two staff members that you had to step into.
Why ask it
Servers arguing over sections and a cook who will not speak to a runner are ordinary, so an experienced manager should have a story ready. You want to hear that each person was spoken to separately and off the floor, and what the schedule looked like the week after.
One of your best servers has started coming in late. How do you handle it?
Why ask it
It is tempting to give a strong performer more slack, and the rest of the staff notice when you do. Listen for a private conversation early, the same standard that applies to everyone else, and some curiosity about what changed for that person.
Describe the last person you had to let go, starting with the first conversation.
Why ask it
You are listening for the steps before the ending: a clear warning, something written down, a chance to improve. A story that begins on the last day tells you how this person would handle your staff, and what you might be answering for afterward.
What do you check on your walk-through before the doors open?
Why ask it
This is the food safety question asked sideways. People who do the walk can list it: walk-in temperatures, hand sinks stocked, yesterday's labels, the restrooms, then the dining room seen from a guest's chair. 'Making sure everything is ready' suggests someone else has been doing the checking.
Have you been the manager on duty during a health inspection, and what did the inspector find?
Why ask it
A manager who has stood next to an inspector tends to bring up temperature logs, date labels and sanitizer buckets without being asked. One honest finding and how it was fixed is more believable than a spotless record across a whole career.
A guest tells their server about a nut allergy. What should happen next in a restaurant you run?
Why ask it
There should be no pause before the answer: how the ticket is marked, who in the kitchen is told in person, how the plate is kept apart and who carries it out. Ask too what they would say when the kitchen cannot make a dish safely, because turning the order down is sometimes the right call.
Tell me about a disagreement with a chef or kitchen manager and how it ended.
Why ask it
The pass is where the floor and the kitchen tend to fall out. Notice whether the kitchen is described with respect, whether the two of them settled it or it went to the owner, and whether the candidate changed anything on their own side.
The inventory count does not match what the register says you sold. Where do you look?
Why ask it
Candidates who have chased a variance name suspects in a sensible order: portioning, waste nobody logged, a receiving error, a recipe change, then theft. If theft is the first word, or there is no first word, they have probably never done the count themselves.
Which point-of-sale and scheduling systems have you used, and which reports did you pull every week?
Why ask it
Knowing your exact software matters less than knowing what to look for in it. Someone who read a product mix report, labor by the hour and the void and discount log every week can pick up a new screen quickly; someone who only rang in orders has more to learn than the buttons.
Run me through the pre-shift meeting you would hold tonight.
Why ask it
Five minutes is plenty: what has run out, what to sell, who is in the book, one thing to do better than yesterday. You are hearing how they talk to a team, and whether they read your menu before they came in.
Have you ever caught an employee stealing, and what did you do?
Why ask it
Free drinks for friends, voided checks, cash that never reaches the drawer: a manager with some years in has usually seen one of them. Listen for how they noticed, which should involve a report and not a hunch, and whether they acted on evidence.
A server tells you a coworker is harassing them. What do you do before that shift ends?
Why ask it
The answer you want includes listening without arguing, separating the two on the floor, writing it down and telling you the same night. 'I would tell them to sort it out' is the one to worry about. Check what your own local rules require of an employer before you ask.
Has anyone followed you from one restaurant to the next?
Why ask it
Cooks and servers follow managers they trust, and that is a reference nobody can write for themselves. Ask for a name and whether you may call, then ask who from the last place would not work for them again.
Why did you leave your last restaurant, and what will the owner there tell me when I call?
Why ask it
Restaurant people in one town tend to know each other, so say you will call and mean it. The second half of the question usually produces a fuller story than the first half would on its own.
You have eaten here. What would you fix first?
Why ask it
A prepared candidate came in as a guest and noticed something specific: the wait at the host stand, a dish that arrived lukewarm, a server who could not describe the special. Flattery and 'I have not had the chance yet' are both answers.
Tell me about a time you talked an owner out of a decision.
Why ask it
You want a manager who disagrees with you in the office and backs you on the floor. Listen for whether they brought numbers, whether they carried the decision out properly when they lost, and how they speak about that owner now.
What have you done that brought in sales, as opposed to cutting costs?
Why ask it
Cutting hours is the easier half of the job. A private dining push, a special that filled a dead Tuesday or a dessert contest among the servers, with a rough result attached, shows someone who thinks about the top line too.
Which part of this job are you weakest at: the numbers, the people or the floor?
Why ask it
Few managers are equally good at all three, so 'none' is hard to believe. The useful follow-up is what they have set up to cover it, such as a weekly hour with a bookkeeper or a strong lead server on their nights off, and whether you can supply the same.
Where do you want to be in three years, and how does this job get you there?
Why ask it
Wanting to own a place one day is no reason to pass on someone, and it often comes with real interest in the numbers. What you need is an honest idea of how long they plan to stay, so you can decide how much to put into training them and whether you can offer the next step.
Which days and hours can you commit to every week?
Why ask it
A manager who cannot close on weekends is a different hire, and it is better to find that out today. Ask about the schedule and not the reasons behind it: questions about family, health or religion are restricted in many places, so check what you may ask where you hire.
What do you want to be paid, and what would you want a bonus measured on?
Why ask it
The metric a candidate picks tells you what they believe they can control. Asking for a share of sales growth is a different bet from asking to be paid on labor percentage, and each one tells you how they would spend their week.
Interviewing for a Restaurant Manager Role
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before you go in
Eat there at a busy time
One Friday service shows you things no answer will: wait times, table turns, how staff speak to each other under pressure. Order something that tests the kitchen rather than the fryer.
Read recent reviews for patterns, not scores
Repeated complaints about waits, cleanliness, or a named manager point at the problem you would inherit. Owners rarely raise it themselves.
Know the numbers you will be held to
Food cost, labor percentage, covers, average check. Walking in able to discuss them changes how the whole conversation is pitched.
Offer to work or observe a service
Trial shifts are common in restaurants, and one service answers a good part of this list at once. Agree first whether it is paid, since the rules on working trials differ from place to place. If the offer is turned down flat, ask why.
Pick five or six, not the whole list
An interview leaves room for a handful of questions. Take one or two from each group, lead with the one that could end your interest in the job, and keep the rest for a second conversation or a trial service.
Get these in writing before accepting
- Scheduled hours, and which days off are fixed rather than hoped for
- Bonus terms: the metric, the threshold, and when it is paid
- Who you report to, and who can override your scheduling and comp decisions
- Whether you are salaried, and how overtime is treated where you are
- Notice and any trial or probation period, if those apply where you are
If you are the one hiring
Ask for the last time, not the philosophy
Any candidate can describe how they would handle a callout or a comp. Ask what they did the last time it happened, on which night, and what it cost. Detail is hard to invent on the spot.
Have your own numbers ready
The earlier groups on this page are what a serious candidate will ask you: covers, food and labor percentages, why the last manager left. Being able to answer them is part of how you win the good ones.
Put the finalist on the floor
A busy service shows you how someone moves through a room and speaks to a dishwasher, which no answer will. Agree the terms beforehand, and check how a working trial has to be paid where you are.
Keep to the job
Ask about experience, judgment and the hours someone can work. Questions about age, family plans, health, religion or where a person is from are restricted in many places, so check the rules where you hire before the interview.
Common mistakes
Only asking about growth
Advancement questions are safe and produce rehearsed answers. Staffing, hours, and authority decide whether you last long enough to be promoted at all.
Not asking why the last manager left
It is a reasonable thing to ask, and few answers tell you as much. If the story is vague, or changes between the owner and the general manager, treat that as part of the answer.
Accepting a verbal bonus promise
A bonus described across a table can change or disappear once you start. If the metric, the threshold and the pay date are not written down, treat the base salary as the whole offer.
Ignoring the kitchen
A front-of-house candidate who never asks about the chef, the prep list or ticket times is skipping the part of the building where much of a manager's daily friction starts.