There’s been a longstanding debate on social media between servers who blast non-tipping customers, and those who believe that folks shouldn’t be on the hook to leave gratuity as it isn’t mandatory.
And TikToker Anela Marquez’s (@anelamarquez) latest video about how much she earns at a fine dining Los Angeles steakhouse in a single week, located off of Rodeo Drive (which many commenters speculated to be Mastro’s), has only further fueled that debate.
In her video, Marquez says that she earned $2,517 after only working 25 hours, leaving many viewers gobsmacked and regretting their own personal career decisions, and commenting that they’re tired of hearing servers complain about not receiving tips from some customers.
@anelamarquez let’s see how much I made working 1 week in my fine dining job in beverly hills :) #beverlyhills #finedining #restaurant #restaurantlife #server #serveife #howmuchimade #howmuchimake #tip #tips ♬ original sound – Anela Marquez
“I work at a steakhouse in Beverly Hills and we’re gonna go through all the money I made this week,” Marquez begins the clip. So the steakhouse that I work at is one of the most popular steakhouses in, I would say the US, but, primarily in Beverly Hills, it is the most booming restaurant there… so we get a bunch of celebrities and people with a lot of money that come in.”
She goes on to say that she decided to partake in a popular TikTok trend where servers share how much they earn in a single day of serving. Marquez, instead, shares her daily income for each of the five previous days she worked.
She adds that these figures are during a relatively slow period for the restaurant and she typically earns much more during the busier times of the year.
“Mind you, it is a recession right now, and it’s really, really slow because it is summer,” Marquez prefaces. “So these numbers are probably not gonna be the same as if I do this video later on in the year when we’re really busy so just keep that in mind.”
Marquez then pulls out a paper sheet detailing her hours, earnings, and credit card tips. She shares that she worked Thursday through Monday.
“That is five days. I normally never work five days but I’ve been off for the past week and a half so I had to make up for it somehow so also keep that in mind,” she says.
She adds that she earns a base wage of $16 per hour on top of the gratuities that she receives. “I also get paid at $16 an hour and I don’t ever work more than six hours a shift, so I’ll also be breaking that down as well,” she notes.
Marquez then breaks down what she brought home each day. She separates her earnings into her hourly wage, her credit card tips, and her cash tips.
Thursday, she says her hourly pay of $16 an hour resulted in $81.69 for five hours and 27 minutes of work. In addition, she received $507 in credit card tips and $40 in cash tips.
The server’s daily tip income ranged from around $250 to $591, including both cash and credit card tips. On top of that, Marquez earned an hourly wage, resulting in additional daily earnings ranging from $68 to $84.
“After totaling everything, I ended up with $2,517 with a little bit of change, which is not bad for only working 25 hours,” she concludes. “Get into fine dining y’all.”
A number of commenters expressed their shock at how much she was able to earn in a single week working part-time as defined by California’s state labor laws.
“I live in Texas…Hourly pay $2.13. my total tips (cash and card) are usually about 168. And that is a double shift. I wish I made this kind of money.,” one user wrote.
Others couldn’t believe how much less they made in comparison to Marquez despite earning degrees in higher education.
“Not me being engineer w/ bachelor, working $44/hr…….,” one commented.
Someone else wrote, “I have my masters and make $35/hr.”
“Go to college they said. You’re average $100 an hour which is what people stuggle to make even with a Masters. Good for you. Keep up the grind! Invest,” another remarked.
Marquez responded that her friends who went to college were jealous of how much money she earns without a degree and no debt to pay off, either. “thank you so much!!! yeah my college friends with degrees and debt get a bit jelly,” she replied.
There were others who said that they earned good money working in fine dining even bussing tables. “Yeah Fine Dining in CA, is the way to go. I made about $700 a week as a Busser easy money,” one commenter claimed.
Another said that they don’t understand why they see so many posts from servers complaining about the amount of money that they earn upon viewing Marquez’s video. “I don’t want to hear none of you servers crying, y’all making MONEY,” they wrote.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Marquez via TikTok comment for further information.
