Bartender gets $10,000 tip on $26 tab

[Ban Hammer 14,271]

HUTCHINSON, Kan. - 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."

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[samir_shannon 0]

AWESOME !!! i am happy for her. something like that comes once in a lifetime!

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Wow!

[Traviesa 0]

That is one lucky lucky lady. She probably works really hard and deserves it. Good for her!!

[Fuzzness 2]

will she get to keep 100% of the tip?

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

will she get to keep 100% of the tip?

Tip income is taxed.

[Fuzzness 2]

will she get to keep 100% of the tip?

Tip income is taxed.

ok... will she able to keep 100% of it AFTER taxes?

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

will she get to keep 100% of the tip?

Tip income is taxed.

ok... will she able to keep 100% of it AFTER taxes?

AFAIK, yes.

However, this line from the article makes me wonder:

"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.

How would it be a great deal for the restaurant? I don't believe they get to take a cut of the tips.

[Ban Hammer 14,271]

will she get to keep 100% of the tip?

yes, but she has to claim tips on her taxes

[Fuzzness 2]

will she get to keep 100% of the tip?

Tip income is taxed.

ok... will she able to keep 100% of it AFTER taxes?

AFAIK, yes.

However, this line from the article makes me wonder:

"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.

How would it be a great deal for the restaurant? I don't believe they get to take a cut of the tips.

...until now?

[Sister Fracas 5]

will she get to keep 100% of the tip?

Tip income is taxed.

ok... will she able to keep 100% of it AFTER taxes?

AFAIK, yes.

However, this line from the article makes me wonder:

"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.

How would it be a great deal for the restaurant? I don't believe they get to take a cut of the tips.

I was wondering the same thing when I read that part. It would be a shame if she had to split part of it with the other restaurant workers...

[Fandango 1,440]

That's awesome!

I think it's a 'great deal' for the restaurant just for the advertising factor.

But this line made me giggle: "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."

Awww, ** the parents, I want a jeep! lol

[almaty 19]

hmmmm...i been to that town..has one of the state maxium prisons in it..

the guy last name is Koch i think it is one of the family members of koch industry ...a very educated guess

[anya-D 8]

That's awesome!

I think it's a 'great deal' for the restaurant just for the advertising factor.

But this line made me giggle: "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."

Awww, ** the parents, I want a jeep! lol

I also thought about that.. what would you do?

[Traviesa 0]

And I've just realized that somehow the guy managed to spend $26 on a meal for himself. That must have included plenty of alcohol. I wonder if he was drunk or something...I remember something from Business Law in college about a contract not being valid if one party was drunk, so I wonder if the guy has had second thoughts and will try to dispute this...wouldn't that suck?