I can't recall if it was in this thread or another where I recounted tales of a few friends who worked in higher priced restaurants. Some were higher end establishments, and others were moderate to high price but high turnover, such as a famous local crab house. As they became senior servers, they appreciated the flexibility where they could work Friday night and Saturday night, plus maybe once during the week, and sometimes bring home several thousand dollars in a week. That 80k sounds about right, and in some places that's for less than 30 hours a week.