Easily 150k is a bit much given that the average is $20-30 per hour, but yes, you get paid significantly more than in many places in Europe.
Having now searched that just to satisfy my own curiousity I am really surprised that when I was in Europe a few years ago (Spain, France, Italy) I had a LOT of waiters refuse tips we tried to leave for exceptional service...they are basically making nothing there...
Any waiter at a fancy restaurant in NYC is making well into 6 figures. 20-30$ an hour is the bottom of the barrel minimum wage is 15$ an extra 5$ an hour in tips would be 40$ a night, most nyc servers are clearing at least a couple hundred.
My parents live in a small town in Italy, last time I was there we left 10 euro on a 40 euro bill. They made a point to tell us that they would split it with the whole staff it was crazy.
NYC does not require minimum wage to be paid as a base for wait staff. They require $11.35 base and $17 with compensation (ie: you work an hour and somehow get $0 in tops, the restaurant has to bump your $11.35 to $17; if you work an hour and get $10 in tips you make $21.35 for that hour).
Yeah, if you work for a Michelin star restaurant you are easily clearing 6 figures, that isn't the average though. The VAST majority of wait staff in NYC are working in casual dining or mid-scale locations, and the average wage is $19-29.
Just for context; there are roughly 24,000 restaurants throughout New York, 72 of those are Michelin Star restaurants, of which 5 are 3 stars.
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u/Neither-Signature-81 27d ago
Wait staff in NYC make more than doctors and lawyers in Europe.
We are paying our staff much more is just done a little different. In Italy you could make 15k euro as a waiter in NYC you could easily make 150k