The caliber of the restaurants in question would not be able to maintain quality servers if the pay didn't increase to a similar sum of an average night with tips. If these places didn't maintain a high level of service, patronage would drop off the cliff.

I think in the case of any big chain, it would be nothing more than a moneygrab.

In the case of Chez Panisse, which I'd say is about 20% to 30% more expensive overall than the restaurants in question, the servers are "career" servers, stay there for years, are good at what they do, and are paid well.

I'm optimistic that this will work well. And if I have crappy service, they'll know.