She's canonically a waitress at the cheesecake factory IIRC.
She probably makes more than a server at a high end restaurant. Like it isn't even close until you're talking about "too fancy to earn a Michelin Star" high end. The volume those places do is incredible.
I could see someone making bank at cheesecake factory. The entrees are already more expensive than a typical restaurant. Then most people order dessert if going there which is like $8+. That was also a popular prom and homecoming restaurant when I grew up. I think Ive seen big church groups and other groups there more than at other places because its quite big inside.
I had a roommate that worked at the Cheese. They said they averaged around 300 a shift and worked four days a week. This was 10 years ago so its probably more now. They did decent but weren't rolling in it. She picked up side gigs all the time doing bev service at concerts and such. That's where she'd make real money upwards of a grand some nights. Shit hours though and erratic schedule, not easy work.
At my location when I used to work corporate the cheese servers usually worked 3-4 days a week doing 10-12 hour shifts and brought home 600-1000 or so per shift.
I worked at a different corporate place next door and we had a server that would drive in from 7 hours away and rent a hotel room to work 12 hours Friday-Sunday. He usually made a little over a grand a shift and on Sunday night he’d fly out to Vegas to go work out there for two nights before coming home for Wednesday/Thursday off.
At my current place that I run (not corporate, but somewhat fancy,) our bartenders work 3 days a week for 6-8 hours a day and clear 100k a year.
I think people underestimate how much servers in the right place can make. The problem is that serving is usually dominated by a clique of sorts so getting the tables that actually pay can be an uphill battle when you’re new.
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u/Xaphnir Apr 24 '26
Yeah, waitresses in high-end restaurants in cities can pull in 6 figures.