Experience goes to Waffle House

He stopped himself to avoid having “shame on me” turned into a soundbite for use by the media and political opponents.

It’s average over whole shift, not hour-by-hour.

It’s the greater of $2.13/hr + tips OR minimum wage per hour. So if you filled in for 1 slow hour at a dinor, sold a cup of coffee and only pulled $1.87 in as a tip you aren’t getting paid $4 ($2.13 + $1.87). You get at least minimum wage.
Minimum wage varies by state (or City) from $7.25 to $21.65 per hour.
Typically, the City’s with high minimum wages also stipulate it to be the minimum rate before tips.

1960 DeKalb Lumberjack