Ready to turn your love for food and people into a thriving career?
Build a career. Experience entrepreneurial growth. Inspire others and be inspired. Achieve financial rewards. These are just a few of the things that define a leadership role at Northstar
What Makes Us Different?
We obsess over every detail—how we design our spaces, source our ingredients, and craft an incredible guest experience. Our food is made from scratch, responsibly sourced, and always delicious. Our service? Exceptionally friendly, genuine, and delivered with a smile.
As a Northstar leader, you’ll push the boundaries of what makes a restaurant extraordinary. We believe in focusing intensely on every aspect of the guest experience, at all times. That’s how we’ve built the most-loved restaurants in Columbus, Cincinnati, and Cleveland—and there’s so much more to come.
What You Can Expect:
Top-tier earning potential: Starting salaries range from $70K–$90K, with GMs earning up to $300K (including bonuses).
Comprehensive benefits: Health, dental, vision, disability, life insurance, 401(k), and paid parental leave.
Time to recharge: 4 weeks of paid vacation annually, and a 1-month paid sabbatical every 5 years.
Delicious Food: Enjoy a generous quarterly stipend to dine in our restaurants, plus free meals while working.
Entrepreneurial growth: As we continue to expand, you’ll have the chance to take on bigger roles and play a key part in growing a thriving business.
Professional development that pays off: From wine courses in Napa to leadership adventures with the National Outdoor Leadership School and coffee origin trips to Guatemala, we invest in you.
A culture of excellence: Work with a talented, upbeat team in a positive, professional environment where hard work is noticed—and rewarded.
What We’re Looking For:
A strong work ethic: You hustle, make things happen, and get the job done right.
A team player mentality: No job is too big or too small, and you’re always ready to pitch in.
A love for great food and the discipline to maintain exceptional quality every time.
Adaptability and focus: You thrive under pressure and switch gears effortlessly.
Stellar communication skills: You connect with your team and inspire confidence.
A positive, can-do attitude: High energy, optimistic, and ready to lead with a sense of humor and positivity.
Education & Experience: A Bachelor’s Degree with a 3.4+ GPA or relevant experience that proves you’re ready to thrive.
What You’ll Learn:
You’ll start with five months of immersive, hands-on training, guided by a dedicated mentor who will help you learn every part of restaurant operations—from managing budgets and inventory to hiring, training, and leading your team.
And it doesn’t stop there. At Northstar, you’ll have access to ongoing professional development opportunities to keep leveling up your skills and growing your career.
Why Northstar?
Because we’re not just building restaurants—we’re building futures. If you’re ambitious, entrepreneurial, and ready to grow, this is the opportunity you’ve been looking for.
Join us, and let’s build something amazing together.
We use eVerify to confirm U.S. Employment eligibility. Read LessWorking at Northstar Cafe is much more than just a job. It’s the chance to become an important member of a close-knit team, responsible for shaping the experience at a most-loved restaurant. It’s an opportunity to bring communities together and help them thrive. And it’s a way to play a key part in the bigger picture, supporting food practices that elevate local growers and producers and keep the environment healthy.
It’s also the best place to launch the rest of your working life. Here, you’ll gain the practical skills that will make you an outstanding professional in any industry. You’ll know how to maintain the highest standards and work in an environment of utmost integrity. And, you’ll develop the collaboration, communication, and leadership skills that will serve you throughout your career.
If you’re —
excited about food prepared from scratch using the best local, organic, and artisan ingredientsopen to learning and growing your skillslooking forward to being valued as an integral member of a teamwearing a smile more often than not, and genuinely interested in sharing your joy— then a Northstar Cafe SERVICE TEAM member might be the perfect job for you.
Bring your upbeat attitude, positive energy, and desire to be your best. We’ll teach you everything else.
We want you to be successful here, and support you with:
thorough training in our beautiful dining room and professional kitchentop-notch teammates who’ll become close friendsAn efficient, productive, upbeat work environmentHere’s what you’d do:
Serve guests with genuine warmth Show up ready to pitch in, help out, and become very knowledgeable about the food we serveAct with confidence to ensure our guests love their experience when unique situations ariseAccurately follow our best known methods, which include processes for interacting with guests, serving, cleaning, and preparing beverages Arrive at work on time looking polished and professionalMove quickly, and stand for six to eight hours per day, and lift 50 poundsWash and cut fruits, vegetables, and herbs. Prepare syrups and mixers from scratchUse a variety of classic and modern beverage-related tools and machinery to prepare beveragesTake pride in being part of the most loved restaurant in the neighborhoodAnd our team gets great benefits:
medical/dental401(k)paid vacationhealthy lifestyle reimbursementfree meal with every shift (pretty much everyone’s favorite benefit)endless opportunities to grow, challenge yourself, and have funOur team loves working here, and we strive to make this a place worthy of them. Here’s what some of them had to say:
“My favorite part about my job is I have the ability to make someone’s day, every day.”
“I’m proud of how clean we keep the restaurant, how we treat each other, and how we treat guests. Our standards are really high, which I love.”
“Shift meals is one of the best parts about working here! Our food is so wholesome and good.”
“The style of communicating, even when something’s wrong, is very kind. It makes people actually want to change. Learning this has helped me be a better communicator in all areas of my life.”
“It's the most supportive work environment that I’ve ever been a part of.”
We use eVerify to confirm U.S. Employment eligibility. Read LessWorking at Northstar Cafe is much more than just a job. It’s the chance to become an important member of a close-knit team, responsible for shaping the experience at a most-loved restaurant. It’s an opportunity to bring communities together and help them thrive. And it’s a way to play a key part in the bigger picture, supporting food practices that elevate local growers and producers and keep the environment healthy.
It’s also the best place to launch the rest of your working life. Here, you’ll gain the practical skills that will make you an outstanding professional in any industry. You’ll know how to maintain the highest standards and work in an environment of utmost integrity. And, you’ll develop the collaboration, communication, and leadership skills that will serve you throughout your career.
If you’re —
— then becoming a member of the Northstar Cafe KITCHEN TEAM might be the perfect job for you.
Bring your upbeat attitude and gritty work-ethic. We’ll teach you the rest.
We want you to be successful here, and support you with:
thorough training in our production bakery and professional kitchentop-notch teammates who’ll become close friendsAn efficient, productive, upbeat work environmentHere’s what you’d do:
Create delicious food alongside a high-energy team with a sincere desire to delight guestsUse the finest ingredients, including foods from more than twenty Ohio producers Prepare a broad menu from scratch using classic and modern cooking techniques and a variety of tools and machineryTake pride in being part of the most loved restaurant in the neighborhoodAnd our team gets great benefits:
medical/dental401(k)paid vacationhealthy lifestyle reimbursementfree meal with every shift (pretty much everyone’s favorite benefit)endless opportunities to grow, challenge yourself, and have funOur team loves working here, and we strive to make this a place worthy of them. Here’s what some of them had to say:
“We source locally whenever we can and always find ingredients of the highest quality. We have good relationships with people who deliver our food. It’s really a community that’s behind all of these amazing meals.”
“I’m proud of how clean we keep the restaurant, how we treat each other, and how we treat guests. Our standards are really high, which I love.”
“Shift meals is one of the best parts about working here! Our food is so wholesome and good.”
“The style of communicating, even when something’s wrong, is very kind. It makes people actually want to change. Learning this has helped me be a better communicator in all areas of my life.”
“I love being a part of a group of conscientious and intelligent people, and being a part of a company that has high standards of excellence. It’s truly a company that goes above and beyond.”
We use eVerify to confirm U.S. Employment eligibility. Read LessWorking at Northstar Cafe is much more than just a job. It’s the chance to become an important member of a close-knit team, responsible for shaping the experience at a most-loved restaurant. It’s an opportunity to bring communities together and help them thrive. And it’s a way to play a key part in the bigger picture, supporting food practices that elevate local growers and producers and keep the environment healthy.
It’s also the best place to launch the rest of your working life. Here, you’ll gain the practical skills that will make you an outstanding professional in any industry. You’ll know how to maintain the highest standards and work in an environment of utmost integrity. And, you’ll develop the collaboration, communication, and leadership skills that will serve you throughout your career.
If you’re —
excited about food prepared from scratch using the best local, organic, and artisan ingredientsopen to learning and growing your skillslooking forward to being valued as an integral member of a teamwearing a smile more often than not, and genuinely interested in sharing your joy— then a Northstar Cafe SERVICE TEAM member might be the perfect job for you.
Bring your upbeat attitude, positive energy, and desire to be your best. We’ll teach you everything else.
We want you to be successful here, and support you with:
thorough training in our beautiful dining room and professional kitchentop-notch teammates who’ll become close friendsAn efficient, productive, upbeat work environmentHere’s what you’d do:
Serve guests with genuine warmth Show up ready to pitch in, help out, and become very knowledgeable about the food we serveAct with confidence to ensure our guests love their experience when unique situations ariseAccurately follow our best known methods, which include processes for interacting with guests, serving, cleaning, and preparing beverages Arrive at work on time looking polished and professionalMove quickly, and stand for six to eight hours per day, and lift 50 poundsWash and cut fruits, vegetables, and herbs. Prepare syrups and mixers from scratchUse a variety of classic and modern beverage-related tools and machinery to prepare beveragesTake pride in being part of the most loved restaurant in the neighborhoodAnd our team gets great benefits:
medical/dental401(k)paid vacationhealthy lifestyle reimbursementfree meal with every shift (pretty much everyone’s favorite benefit)endless opportunities to grow, challenge yourself, and have funOur team loves working here, and we strive to make this a place worthy of them. Here’s what some of them had to say:
“My favorite part about my job is I have the ability to make someone’s day, every day.”
“I’m proud of how clean we keep the restaurant, how we treat each other, and how we treat guests. Our standards are really high, which I love.”
“Shift meals is one of the best parts about working here! Our food is so wholesome and good.”
“The style of communicating, even when something’s wrong, is very kind. It makes people actually want to change. Learning this has helped me be a better communicator in all areas of my life.”
“It's the most supportive work environment that I’ve ever been a part of.”
We use eVerify to confirm U.S. Employment eligibility. Read Less