In spite of Tanzania's increasing female labour force participation (2000/2001 until 2006) and its government's efforts to promote gender balance, daily work and employment practices are still characterised by profound gender inequalities. This paper explores the hospitality industry and its gendered employment patterns, based on the case of Mwanza, Tanzania's second largest town. Data collected using questionnaires and qualitative interviews indicate that restaurants, hotels and bars provide low earnings and at the same time work with larger proportions of female staff. The results show that gender imbalances can be related to the preference for informal recruitment methods, to hiring authorities' gendered images of suitability and to processes of self-selection on the supply side of the labour market. Moreover, the significance of capitalist interests, patriarchal prescriptions and sexuality in determining the gender composition of organisations is confirmed. Further research needs to include the interplay between gender and age, and the complex and contradictory effects of sexuality at work.