Back in the 70s there was a restaurant in Little Rock that was so popular that waiters could actually “sell” their positions to the highest bidders.
Going way back, waiters were independent agents who were basically middlemen between the house and the customer. They paid for the food themselves and tips were the only money they made. There was one place in Chicago I can remember in the 1970s that still ran like that, and had been since the 1880s.I remember the waiters lining up to pay for the meals as they came out of the kitchen before they'd bring them to your table.