It’s still paid at a minimum of 7.25 per hour. Yeah cleaning time increases the denominator for the overall pay rate but I see the issue more as 7.25 is way too low or COL is too high.

Put another way, if a waiter gets zero tips their pay calculation reduces to what a fast food worker makes.

I don't understand, what's the pay period? One day? Doesn't it mean that they're paid at least the minimum wage per day?