It only works because its been around long enough that there is a culture of tipping for service, to the point it's practically an invisible tax on each meal (granted, with the option to avoid it if you really want/have to, but is considered negative socially)

Elsewhere in the world, there is much less of a tipping custom, and wages for service staff tend to reflect that.

Isn't there some kind of US law that requires restaurants to pay the difference between wage+tips & minimum wage if the tips share is low enough?

(OTOH, I recall reading somewhere about people paying huge sums (order of $10's of K) for high-profile service jobs like Maître d' at a prestigious hotel, or head waiter in a high-class restaurant, due to the quantity earned in tips)