Finding the best talent in the food industry takes intentional effort and focus. And there are many different methods for ensuring your restaurant is staffed with the best candidates in your region. One of these methods is using restaurant employment websites.
In this guide, I break down the best restaurant hiring platforms available. I also share tips on how to avoid high turnover, seasonal staffing issues, and skill shortages in key positions. Restaurant employment websites streamline the hiring process, so let’s find out which is best for your business.
- Indeed: Best overall restaurant employment website
- Culinary Agents: Best for bulk discounts
- ZipRecruiter: Best for matching key candidates
- Poached: Best for shift-focused staffing
Best restaurant hiring platforms compared
You have options for the best restaurant job boards. Below are the top four job boards I recommend for hiring top talent in your restaurant.
| My score | Avg. monthly or subscription starting cost | HR tools** | Supports multiple languages | |
 Indeed | 4.47/5 | $150 | None | Yes |
| Visit Indeed | ||||
 Culinary Agents | 4.04/5 | $150 | Good | No |
| Visit Culinary Agents | ||||
 ZipRecruiter | 3.71/5 | $299* | Good | Yes |
| Visit ZipRecruiter | ||||
 Poached | 3.54/5 | $59 (per 30-day job post) | None | Yes |
| Visit Poached | ||||
*According to third-party sources
**Background checks, I-9 everify, W-4s, e-signature, etc.
Indeed: Best overall restaurant employment website
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Culinary Agents: Best for bulk discounts
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ZipRecruiter: Best for matching key candidates
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Poached: Best for shift-focused staffing
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How to write an effective job posting
Writing an effective job posting is critical for attracting top talent. A restaurant job posting should be easy to read and clearly outline the position offered. It should also excite potential candidates, offering a vision of your excellent work environment and showcasing what they have to gain by joining your team.
- Be clear and concise: A restaurant job posting should have a clear title, a detailed overview of the position, a pay range, and any other relevant information. Shift times, previous requirements, and other important information should be easy to find and comprehend.
- Highlight competitive pay and benefits: Pay and benefits are what many potential candidates look for, and can be the key difference-maker in deciding where to apply. So it’s crucial to list your pay range and any benefits or perks a potential employee can expect. Determining whether pay is hourly or salary is also key information to include.
- Ensure location specifics and schedule expectations: In job postings, it’s important to share the location of your restaurant, especially if you have multiple locations. Additionally, share the times that an employee is expected to work so that they’re aware of scheduling demands.
- Share relevant job perks and career growth options: If your restaurant has relevant perks that may attract employees, sharing them can help your job posting stand out. Additionally, emphasizing career growth in your posting will show potential candidates that your business can be a place where they can grow their professional kitchen careers.
Strategies to attract & retain top talent
I can speak firsthand to the difficulty many restaurant owners have when it comes to both attracting and retaining good talent in the food industry. Attracting talent is challenging due to the high level of saturation in the food industry’s labor market.
As of February 2025, the industry workforce was projected to grow by 200,000 jobs this year. But restaurant labor shortage statistics suggest full-service restaurants are still struggling to find staff.
Retaining talent can be even more tricky due to the demands of our industry and, unfortunately, poor culture or non-competitive labor practices by restaurants. Below are some key practices to keep in mind for better success with employee attraction and retention.
Build a winning culture
Burnout, abuse, and overall poor working conditions were the norm for many restaurants leading up to the 2000s. The last two decades have seen a dramatic shift in working conditions for restaurant workers, along with an increase in demand from these workers for better overall working environments.
This all begins with the restaurant culture management builds for its staff. Some of the best restaurants in the world are beacons of both excellent food and excellent working conditions, with workers competing to be part of a team that values them. This type of culture helps attract and retain talent in your restaurant.
Use industry events and connections
The beautiful aspect about the restaurant industry is the fact that there are a lot of relationships within it that you can leverage. Events like industry nights at local restaurants or collaborative cooking festivals are great ways to meet and find talent within the food world. Being a beacon of leadership in your community as a chef or restaurant owner will help boost the perception of your restaurant and what it’s like to work there.
Show career growth
Many restaurant workers strive for career growth in their roles. Yet restaurant employee turnover runs rampant, so finding a place of employment that compensates fairly and offers regular promotions stands out to talented workers.
Promoting from within and celebrating this on social media or through digital announcements is key to showing prospective employees that your restaurant is a great place to work. This also helps build a winning culture that attracts and retains the best talent in your region.
Consistent team communication and work-life balance
Keeping open communication channels with your staff can help address any issues they face. Open dialogue on improving the work environment is an excellent way to retain staff. Another important aspect of your job is maintaining a work-life balance.
Burnout is an epidemic for food industry workers, so offering fair schedules, adequate time off, and managing employees who are feeling overworked is key to keeping your talent.
Manage seasonal staffing
Restaurants often face shortages or surges of employees, depending on the season. Some restaurants are very busy in the summer, making it more difficult to hire staff during these peak times. Restaurants that are further out of town, in rural areas, or in areas of heavy tourism or short-term visits face similar challenges.
Other restaurants may only need labor during a season because they are not open year-round, so being able to hire top talent is vital. By building a good kitchen culture and planning your staffing plans well in advance of the season, you are better able to prepare for the eventual effects of seasonality.
Address skill shortages
One aspect of employment that restaurants face is the fact that skill shortages exist among new employees. Restaurant work is very unique and can vary from business to business. My recommendation for keeping talent on that may have skill shortages is to create a robust onboarding and training program for new hires.
Many smaller restaurants or groups lack this aspect of onboarding, but it’s vital for long-term success for your employees. By intentionally ensuring proper training, you can better retain your employees in the long term and keep your labor force sustainable.
Alternative hiring methods & training
You can use a few alternative hiring methods when hiring for a restaurant. While online job boards may be effective, it’s good to diversify where you find talent, as not everyone aggregates to these sites. Below are some of the most effective alternative hiring methods in the food nd beverage industry.
Social media hiring
A really effective way to hire is to use your social media channels to attract and retain top talent. Platforms like Instagram and Facebook are great ways to let people know that you have availability on your team. One unlock I’ve found when hiring is using local food industry Facebook groups.
These local online forums are excellent because they connect the food industry in a region and make it easy to find talent. Furthermore, talent found in these groups is often recommended by a chef or business owner, which lends more trust to the candidate being interviewed.
Referral programs
Referral programs are implemented in small and large-scale businesses due to their effectiveness. A referral program usually involves an incentive for an employee to refer a colleague, in return for which they receive a monetary bonus or reward.
Referral programs tap into your employees’ network, which can yield great results in the restaurant industry. Offering a competitive referral program while also including a retention clause is key to executing this alternative method.
AI-driven recruitment tools and gig platforms
AI-driven recruitment can be useful for restaurant owners who have limited time and resources. Looking through resumes or applications on paper or by hand is best for kitchen workers, in my opinion, but AI tools can help with efficiencies if you have limited time for administrative tasks. Websites like Upwork are also great ways to attract talent or remote-based workers for backend work, such as menu design or a virtual assistant role to help manage administrative tasks.
Paid internships and stages
An old practice in the restaurant industry is the concept of a “stage,” which is essentially a working interview. In the modern restaurant industry, paying all workers is the norm and should be a basic business function.
That being said, offering potential employees the ability to intern or stage while being paid is a great way to see if they are a good fit and to determine if they actually want to take on the work they’re interviewing for. Paid stages are done by some of the most successful restaurant groups and can be a great trial run for those looking to join your culinary team.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
Hiring is one of the most vital aspects of managing a restaurant. This includes finding the right restaurant job posting sites to attract and retain the talent you’re looking for. Below are some of the most frequently asked questions about employment websites and restaurant hiring in 2025.
Last bite
Hiring in the restaurant industry can be very challenging, so using a restaurant employment website that delivers results is essential. Indeed is my top pick for 2025, due to its intuitive tools, reach across the hospitality industry, and a focus on enhancing the interview process.
Whatever system you choose from this guide, know that selecting the system is only half the task. By writing engaging job postings, offering competitive pay, and building a great culture, you can hire and retain top talent for any restaurant job opening.
