What gets me is that it's entirely possible to pay servers $15 an hour with only a negligible increase in the cost of goods.

Here's my breakdown (using Ontario as an example):

If I order a decent burger and fries at the pub, that's $15. Add $1.95 for 13% HST, and 2.25 for 15% tip, and the total comes to $19.20.

Now, the rule of thumb is that labour is, tops, 30% of a restaurant's expense. So, of that $15 burger, $4.50 comes from the labour cost. server minimum wage in Ontario is $12.20, so bump that up 20% to $15 an hour: this makes that $4.50 in labour on the burger come to $5.40 ($4.50 + 20%).  Also note this is applied to ALL labour, not just minumum wage servers, so the actual number will be much lower.

So, that $15 burger now costs $15.90; that comes to $17.97 after 13% HST, and the server doesn't *need* a 15% tip because they're getting paid $15 an hour already.

What have I just accomplished? Paying servers $15 an hour and **saving** customers  $1.30 on the same $15 burger at the pub.  And, again, the savings will likely be greater because I'm assuming the *total* labour increases, including management, kitchen, etc., who already make about server minimum.