Whether behind a bar, serving in a restaurant, or caring for guests in a hotel, working in hospitality often requires long hours on your feet. Spending a long spell upright while working hard can greatly impact your feet. Wearing the right shoes when working in hospitality is crucial, but knowing which shoes are right isn’t easy.
At Rieker, we appreciate the need to take care of your feet at work. Read our guide to find out which shoes provide the best support, feel the most comfortable and help you get through your shift with the greatest of ease.
Table of contents
- What is the best colour for hospitality work shoes?
- Best shoes for restaurant servers
- Best shoes for bar staff
- Work shoes at Rieker
What is the best colour for hospitality work shoes?
Black shoes are the most commonly required colour of shoes in hospitality. This is often due to the colour's formal characteristics. Most uniforms in restaurants, bars, and hotels feature white shirts and black ties that perfectly match the elegance of black footwear, providing employees with a sleek look.
Not only does black help achieve a professional and formal outfit, but it also provides welcome security for such demanding work. Servers and bar staff are constantly at risk of spillages, so black shoes are perfect as they are much easier to clean than most other colours.
Our range of Rieker black shoes mesh comfort and style effortlessly, so you can feel steady on your feet at work while knowing you're meeting your employer's aesthetic expectations.
Best shoes for restaurant servers
While there may be plenty of sweet treats at your local restaurant, serving isn’t a piece of cake. Choosing the right shoes for this line of work is essential to avoiding wear and tear or injury. Slips, fatigue, backaches, and knee pain could all be on the menu should you choose an unsuitable pair.
We’ve collected the key factors you need to consider when buying a new pair of shoes for work.
Comfortable
While it sounds self-explanatory, wearing comfortable shoes is imperative to a positive shift in a restaurant. Comfort isn’t just feeling cosy, although that can’t hurt; it’s about how easily you can move around at pace and the strain, or hopefully lack of, that has on your feet.
At Rieker, our anti-stress technology reduces the pressure on your feet so you can feel confident moving at high speeds around a busy restaurant without fear of lingering pain. Our technology is built using four key anti-stress properties. The shoes within this range are designed to be lighter, roomier, more flexible, and more shock-absorbing.
These properties combined create a shoe that gives you full control of your movement without feeling the harsher consequences of an on-your-feet lifestyle.
Non-Slip
A restaurant is packed with slip and trip hazards. Bumping into a customer while your attention is diverted, wet floors, errant bags or other items can all lead to workplace calamity. Non-slip shoes are essential to avoiding embarrassment and injury.
Shoes with soft rubber outsoles are ideal as the grip will be strong and more resistant to slips. A large surface area on the soles also has the benefit of extra grip, as more of your shoe has control over the ground you tread. We also recommend you seek out water-resistant shoes, as there are many occasions when a restaurant can get wet and wild, especially if you’re in and out of the kitchen.
At Rieker, all our shoes are made to last, and durability is a huge pro for work footwear. Durable non-slip shoes mean you have reliable grip shift after shift and won’t have to worry about wear and tear on your shoes and feet.
Arch support
Sore feet become a problem very quickly for people who work on the move for long hours. A good way to avoid blisters and soreness is to find shoes with strong arch support. It’s important to nip sore feet in the bud quickly as if you continue to wear the same shoes that cause the soreness, it can quickly lead to pain in your knees and back.
Shoes with good arch support distribute body weight appropriately across the bottom of your feet to ensure your soles, toes, or other areas aren’t under uncomfortable pressure.
Best shoes for bar staff
Bartending is another profession requiring long hours on your feet, and while the uniform rules may not be as stringent in bars as in restaurants, many of the same principles apply.
Slip-resistant, durable, comfortable and flexible shoes are a must for any bar staff with frequent trips to the cellar to change a barrel or simply move up and down a busy bar for different orders, which can cause strain.
With the vast amount of liquid that comes with working in a bar, we recommend black, easy-to-clean, water-resistant shoes that will keep you steady. Durability doesn’t just apply to the grip in the case of bartending but also to the material. If spillages occur frequently onto the shoes, you want to be sure you can quickly wipe them off and return to work without worry. We recommend black leather shoes that won’t require immediate detailed care.
Work shoes at Rieker
At Rieker, we offer an extensive selection of footwear suitable for hospitality workers. Our collection of men’s and women’s footwear will keep you comfortable at work without any unnecessary strain on your feet. Shop beautifully designed shoes from our Remonte collection and work with confidence.
If you’re looking for more style than substance, view our style guides for men and women so you can perfect any look in your free time or at work.
