Patron serves bartender $10,000 — 1 year ago
This was in my hometown’s newspaper today and thought it was something that I’d like to do sometime…when I have the money to give.
By Jason Probst
The Hutchinson News
jprobst@hutchnews.com
A tip calculator figures that $3.90 is an acceptable tip for a $26 meal – a 15 percent nod to a waiter or bartender for a job well done.
Generous tippers might leave $5.20, or 20 percent of the bill, as a bigger token of appreciation for caring for a customer’s needs.
But it’s difficult to find a word that adequately describes the customer who signs off on a $26 dinner bill and puts down $10,000 for the tip.
Never happen?
It did – a 38,461 percent tip – right here in Hutchinson.
Cindy Kienow, a bartender at Applebee’s Bar and Grill, received a $10,000 tip last Sunday after a customer signed the bill for his $26 meal.
“He usually signs his ticket and flips it upside down,” Kienow said. “But this time, he had it right side up and said ‘I want you to know this is not a joke.’ “
Kienow, who has worked at Applebee’s for eight years, said the man is a regular customer who comes in a couple of times each month and sits at the end of the bar to eat his meal.
He usually orders two beers, cheese quesadillas for an appetizer and an entrée for dinner, and he always tips very well, Kienow said – generally leaving a $15 tip on a $30 ticket.
Two weeks ago, the same customer left her a $100 tip, but the size of Sunday’s tip left her in shock.
Cindy Kienow, a bartender at Applebee’s Bar and Grill in Hutchinson, was shocked after a patron left her what amounted to be a 38,461 percent tip.
Photo by Travis Morisse
“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.’ “
Rhodri McNee, vice president of operations for JS Enterprises, the owner of the Hutchinson Applebee’s, said the company is in the final stages of verifying the tip.
“This is a great deal for us and a great deal for Cindy,” McNee said. “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.”
McNee said the company is exercising caution to protect the customer’s privacy and ensure that the tip goes through the appropriate channels to end up in Kienow’s hands.
“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 isn’t sure what she did to deserve the tip, but she said she feels honored and privileged that the man thought her efforts were worth that much money.
“It’s a great compliment,” Kienow said. “I’m still kind of in shock.”
She talked with the customer, described as a man in his mid-40s, every time he came into the restaurant. He lives in the area, Kienow said, but she didn’t learn many details about the man’s personal life.
Mostly, they talked about the weather, current events or recent happenings – the sort of talk that’s common between a bartender and a patron. But there’s not a specific incident she can think of that prompted the extra large 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 dumb-founded.”
The 35-year-old Kienow said she’s not entirely sure what she’d like to do with the money. Her dad is scheduled for double-knee surgery and will have to take some time off work.
“I’d like to take care of my parents, since they always took care of me,” Kienow 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.”
