Well they sound like they have picked a higher base wage than average (particularly for servers) and aren’t making a profit.

Personally if it’s owner-run I would assume you would be better picking a lower base wage, then sharing profits (with the profits making up that shortfall).

That way there is also an incentive to be an owner, and the business is more stable - sounds like if they have picked high wages and low/no profit though they are running it hot and risky from a cash flow perspective.

But there aren’t profits for owners to share at the moment - possibly partially because they are overpaying on labour.