Coaching, Leadership, Restaurant
Overview:
Assistant Manager, ARLO — Town and Country Resort, San Diego
Full-Time | Mission Valley, San Diego | Reports to: General Manager, ARLO
ARLO is the award-winning, Cali-Baja, scratch-cooking, DJ-brunching, patio-fireplace-having restaurant at Town and Country Resort — and we're gunning for Bib Gourmand status. We don't need a title-holder yet. We need someone who eats, sleeps, and slightly obsesses over the idea of getting one.
We're looking for an Assistant Manager who can run a shift like a conductor, taste a dish and know exactly why it's not quite right, and make a guest on their third mezcal feel like the most important person in Mission Valley. Bonus points if you already have opinions about what makes a Bib Gourmand a Bib Gourmand (we do too — let's argue about it over family meal).#towncountrysd
Who we are
Serving scratch-made Cali-Baja dishes on a patio with swaying palm trees and a fireplace big enough to have its own zip code, ARLO has already picked up Best Hotel Restaurant, Best Restaurant for Big Groups, and a small shelf of other San Diego Magazine hardware. We're proud of that. We're not satisfied with it. The next trophy we want doesn't come from a popularity contest — it comes from consistency, craft, and a kitchen and floor that operate like they mean it every single shift. That's the job. Salary range: $71,000-$75,000
Responsibilities:
What you'll actually do
- Run the floor during service — table flow, staffing, timing, the thousand small decisions that separate "fine" from "we're telling our friends about this place"
- Coach and develop front-of-house staff so guest experience doesn't dip when the GM steps away (or when we're slammed for a Sunday DJ brunch)
- Partner with the kitchen to make sure what leaves the pass matches what's on the menu — flavor, plating, temperature, no exceptions
- Own guest recovery in real time — hear a complaint, fix it, and make it look easy
- Keep an eye on cost controls, scheduling, and inventory without losing the plot on hospitality
- Help build the systems and standards that a certain red guide tends to notice
- Step in for the GM when needed and represent ARLO with the swagger it deserves
Qualifications:
What you bring
- 2+ years of restaurant management or strong assistant-management experience, upscale casual or better
- A palate you trust and aren't afraid to use out loud
- The ability to stay unbothered during a packed patio, a broken POS, and a birthday parade happening simultaneously
- Real leadership instincts — staff should want to work your shifts, not survive them
- A genuine interest in San Diego and Baja food culture (we will absolutely quiz you on this in the interview)
- Flexibility for nights, weekends, and holidays — restaurants don't run on banker's hours and neither do we
What you get
- Competitive salary + bonus structure
- Health benefits
- Resort perks (yes, the pool counts)
- A real seat at the table as we chase Bib Gourmand — this isn't a job where your ideas get filed away and forgotten
- Free parking, which in this town is basically a benefit worth bragging about
How to apply
Send your resume and a few sentences on the best thing you've eaten in San Diego in the last month. If it's from a gas station, we still want to hear about it.