Bartender gets $10,000 tip on $26 tab

MR. MEOWGI · 08-31-2006, 11:41 AM

Lucky duck.

And who eats at Applebee's several times a month?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060831/.../ten_grand_tip

Bartender gets $10,000 tip on $26 tab Thu Aug 31, 4:12 AM ET

Two weeks ago, one of Cindy Kienow's regular customers left her a $100 tip on a tab that wasn't even half that. This week, he added a couple of zeros.

Kienow, a bartender at Applebee's, got a $10,000 tip from the man — for a $26 meal — on Sunday.

"I couldn't move," Kienow said. "I didn't know what to say. He said, `This will buy you something kind of nice, huh?' And I said, `Yeah, it will.'"

Kienow said the man, whom company officials have declined to name, comes in several times a month and eats at the end of the bar. He has always tipped well, she said, usually leaving $15 on a $30 tab.

Then came the $100 tip, followed by the real shocker.

"He usually signs his ticket and flips it upside down," said Kienow, 35, who has worked at the restaurant for eight years. "But this time, he had it right-side up and said `I want you to know this is not a joke.'"

It's not, company officials agreed.

"This is a great deal for us and a great deal for Cindy," said Rhodri McNee, vice president of operations for JS Enterprises, the owner of the Hutchinson Applebee's. "We did have a guest leave this tip on a credit card, and we're doing everything to make sure it's a valid charge."

The company is in the final stages of verifying the tip, McNee said, while also working to maintain the customer's privacy and make sure the money goes through the proper channels to get to Kienow.

"Nothing would make us happier than to present her with that check," McNee said. "She's been with us for eight years, and she's a great employee who does a great job."

Kienow said that while she always talks with the man when he comes in — usually about current events or the weather — she can't think of anything that would have prompted the huge tip.

"I've been waiting on him for about three years," Kienow said. "We'd just talk across the bar he's a really nice guy. I hope he comes back in so I can tell him thank you, because the other day I was kind of dumbfounded."

Kienow, whose father will have to take some time off work for surgery on both of his knees, said she hasn't decided what to do with the money.

"I'd like to take care of my parents, since they always took care of me," she said. "But I feel like he wanted me to buy something for myself, and there's a Jeep that I've had my eye on for a while."

mateo · 08-31-2006, 11:43 AM

I thought I had it good when Ralph Sampson gave me $100 on New Years Eve to load his trunk full of bags of Randall's ice.....but this is awesome.

Bogey · 08-31-2006, 11:44 AM

I'm guessing Cindy has a nice rack.

SamFisher · 08-31-2006, 11:46 AM

Doesn't the wait staff pool all the tips usually or I guess not?

candlegreen · 08-31-2006, 11:51 AM

I like what she said at the end.... Her father needs surgery, but then again, this guy might want her to buy something nice for herself....

Mr. Brightside · 08-31-2006, 11:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bogey

I'm guessing Cindy has a nice rack.

haha..I was thinking she provides the man with a little extra than a gin and tonic.

LonghornFan · 08-31-2006, 12:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MR. MEOWGI

"I'd like to take care of my parents, since they always took care of me," she said. "But I feel like he wanted me to buy something for myself, and there's a Jeep that I've had my eye on for a while."

Classic.

Deckard · 08-31-2006, 12:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Brightside

haha..I was thinking she provides the man with a little extra than a gin and tonic.

I don't. I think this fellow has fantasies about that, however. Some folks have more money than they know what to do with, and little in the way of social skills.

A-Train · 08-31-2006, 12:07 PM

Maybe he's about to die, so he's getting rid of all his money right before biting the big one. Of course, if whatever is killing him suddenly goes away, expect him to come back and get what is his...

KellyDwyer · 08-31-2006, 05:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Brightside

haha..I was thinking she provides the man with a little extra than a gin and tonic.

That's the cool thing -- it's Applebee's, so those bartenders are restricted, they can't improvise with drinks and make things a little stronger/weaker. She did things by the book, at a crappy chain restaurant (oh, who am I kidding, I love Da Bee's ... everything's fried!), and got a sweetass tip.

The worst part? The taxes.

3814 · 08-31-2006, 05:18 PM

I've always wondered why the hell you have to tip for everything. I mean, if they charge you $15 for a meal - isn't that enough to cover whatever costs it took to make the meal, have the staff paid, etc? Same with haircuts - why would I tip 10% on a haircut? I don't get why there are certain jobs that deserve tipping and others that don't.

Kelly - you should put a tipjar on every article you post, maybe you could get lucky!

btw: I do tip, I just don't know why.

rrj_gamz · 08-31-2006, 06:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by A-Train

Maybe he's about to die, so he's getting rid of all his money right before biting the big one. Of course, if whatever is killing him suddenly goes away, expect him to come back and get what is his...

Yeah, like her rack...

CBrownFanClub · 08-31-2006, 06:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mateo

I thought I had it good when Ralph Sampson gave me $100 on New Years Eve to load his trunk full of bags of Randall's ice.....but this is awesome.

You need to tell this story in full. That sounds up there with some very good stories.

KellyDwyer · 08-31-2006, 06:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 3814

I've always wondered why the hell you have to tip for everything. I mean, if they charge you $15 for a meal - isn't that enough to cover whatever costs it took to make the meal, have the staff paid, etc? Same with haircuts - why would I tip 10% on a haircut? I don't get why there are certain jobs that deserve tipping and others that don't.

15 bucks doesn't cover it. Most servers make 2 bucks an hour, if they made ten bucks an hour and didn't ask for a gratuity, then meals would cost much more. That's why your crappy McDonald's meal costs a third of what you'd pay at a crappy sit-down restaurant.

Same thing with hair dressers. A lot of them make the minimum. My girlfriend is a hairdresser, and her hourly wage only covers the taxes she has to pay on her tips and commission (from selling product). The hourly wage means nothing. Again, if barbers were paid ten bucks an hour and didn't ask for tips, then the cut would be a lot more.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 3814

Kelly - you should put a tipjar on every article you post, maybe you could get lucky!

Maybe, but more likely I'd get a bunch of anonymous emails telling "Gaywad McGee" to stop "hatin' on them Hornets."

Quote:

Originally Posted by 3814

btw: I do tip, I just don't know why.

You're paying for the service. It's why you don't tip at places like McDonald's, and why the tipjar at the counter AT STARBUCKS IS THE BIGGEST FRICKIN' JOKE I'VE EVER SEEN. Those bastards sometimes make 12 bucks an hour, and they want me to tip them for serving me hot water and a tea bag? I'll tea bag them! I'm Gaywad McGee!

rrj_gamz · 08-31-2006, 06:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KellyDwyer

15 bucks doesn't cover it. Most servers make 2 bucks an hour, if they made ten bucks an hour and didn't ask for a gratuity, then meals would cost much more. That's why your crappy McDonald's meal costs a third of what you'd pay at a crappy sit-down restaurant.

I use to wait tables in College and I tip, but wasn't the "pay the waitstaff" jack crap originally done to help restaurants stay in business when times were tough...The overhead to run a place is a lot...Most places make their money by having a bar because the margins are so thin on food...

Think of it, you go to an expenseive restaurant, tab is like $200...you have to tip 15%, so add $30. If the meal is that expensive, shouldn't the waiter get paid more, hell even salary...If you're paying $30 for nice steak, does it really matter if they changed the price to $35 -$40 for example...I never got this...

KellyDwyer · 08-31-2006, 06:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rrj_gamz

I use to wait tables in College and I tip, but wasn't the "pay the waitstaff" jack crap originally done to help restaurants stay in business when times were tough...The overhead to run a place is a lot...Most places make their money by having a bar because the margins are so thin on food...

Think of it, you go to an expenseive restaurant, tab is like $200...you have to tip 15%, so add $30. If the meal is that expensive, shouldn't the waiter get paid more, hell even salary...If you're paying $30 for nice steak, does it really matter if they changed the price to $35 -$40 for example...I never got this...

I agree, pay the waiter salary. If you pay them salary, then you get into health care and insurance issues, and no restaurant wants to deal with that -- so just pay them half of the minimum wage, tax the hell out of their tips, and let unknowing customers decide whether or not the job is worth it.

JuanValdez · 09-01-2006, 10:20 AM

The guy should have given her the $10,000 in cash so she wouldn't have to declare it. What a jerk.

Mr. Brightside · 09-01-2006, 01:22 PM

I think $10,000 would have bought him an indecent proposal.

Summer Song Giver · 09-01-2006, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Brightside

I think $10,000 would have bought him an indecent proposal.

Clearly a bad use of 10,000 dollars no matter how you look at it.

nyquil82 · 09-01-2006, 01:42 PM

This thread is worthless without pictures of this supposed $10,000 waitress. Then we can go around saying, "$10,000? maybe $400, but not $10,000" and then "I'd hit it"