Definitely the case. And a good example of why I dislike the living wage argument as long as tipping is in place. There are two industry scenarios -- either this is an entry level or part time job, or it's a career. If it's the former, occupied by high school and college students, aspiring actors, people who want a second gig, a living wage isn't necessary. For those people that see it as a career, the $20/hr is not a bad entry level job. They aren't supposed to stay there for their whole career, but aspire to move to higher end restaurants where their hourly wage increases. As I think I've written before, I had friends in college who made more working 2-3 shifts per week at a high end restaurant than I did my first 5 years out of college in a professional job. Several worked at Bob Chinn's (famous in the Chicago area) where a table of 4 with drinks could typically have a before-tax dinner check of $200-$250. I recall on busy weekends they would bring home thousands of dollars, and this was in the early 90's. They had all climbed the ladder, starting out in lower paying server jobs in high school, which enabled them to get hired at a higher end restaurant.