So I've worked a lot in bars (in Australia), and one thing I hate that a lot of them do is force you to take an unpaid half-hour break during your shift if it's quiet. On a busy night, you normally don't get breaks anyway beyond maybe a quick 15-minute paid break if it's a long shift.
But yeah, mostly on quiet nights, some bars will force you to take a half-hour break, unpaid, and call it a “meal break” (even though most folks have already eaten…they don't care), and they basically just do it to try and save themselves money on wages and to avoid having to pay you for being there when it's quiet, even though they've literally rostered you to be there, and it's their problem if it's quiet.
If it was a paid break, sure, I'd take it. But I don't leave my house and come to work just to sit on my ass not getting paid – the whole point of me going there is to get paid. I have no interest in twiddling my thumbs, and having half an hour of my time wasted in some place I don't like being, just to save some rich asshole $15.
In different settings, where I do need to eat a meal, or where the job is particularly arduous/tiring, I might feel differently…but at least in this context it's bullshit.