The expensive part is big. Inflation on bar and restaurant drinks is real. Drinks where I am are a minimum of 15 usd with 20-25 not being outside the realm of possibility. I started tipping 2 dollars a drink a few years ago at bars. But I’m not getting a dozen drinks, or drinking every day at bars, even every weekend.
I can see these tips really adding up if you do this a lot, especially restaurants where two people + tip for a couple that gets two drinks each is 120-150 usd all day. Wages aren’t exactly catching up to any of that.