Server Gets $2,000 Tip, But Restaurant Says It Was Invalid

SAN ANTONIO, TX — A San Antonio restaurant server was stunned when she looked at the check one customer left her this past weekend after dining at the Red Hook Seafood restaurant on Northwest Loop 410. It included a $2,000 tip on a meal priced at $69.01.

"I was like, 'wait.' I just opened it and started crying. I was like, 'Oh my God! My kids! I'm going to spend it all on my kids,'" Emily Bauer, the server and a mother of two boys under the age of 3, told KENS 5.

But almost a week later, Bauer still has not received a single cent.

The restaurant's management told Bauer it is unable to process a tip of more than $500, and in a social media post has said the tip itself was "invalid."

"The gentleman's card would not let us post the tip," the restaurant said in a Facebook post Wednesday. "Visa could not force a $2,000 tip on his card it was invalid then later declined. We can not charge a card $500 four times it's impossible and it's fraud."

The restaurant said it has urged the man to return to the restaurant and provide Bauer the tip in cash, but as of Wednesday afternoon he had not done so.

"We did not steal anything from Emily or any of our employees," the restaurant said, adding that threats and harassing messages have been received since KENS 5 shared the story on its Tuesday night newscast. "We can not force a $2,000 tip that a bank is declining."

Still, Bauer said she is grateful to the man even though she will not be able to get the money he intended for her.

"Even though I can't receive it, thank you. Thank you for having such a big heart. This world is filled with messed-up people. It's like, how did he know I needed that?" Bauer told KENS 5.

The man, who Bauer said told her he owns several restaurants himself, included the note: "Merry Christmas! Keep working hard!" next to the tip amount after seeing how busy Bauer and the other servers were Sunday.

Both Bauer and the restaurant said the man has called Red Hook to try to resolve the situation and get Bauer the money. But as of Wednesday afternoon, that had not occurred.