It was a very merry surprise for three workers at an Arizona restaurant when a customer known for leaving “Tips for Jesus” left $11,000 in tips two days after Christmas.
The customer, who asks to remain anonymous, arrived at Crudo restaurant in Phoenix Dec. 27 for a post-dinner snack and round of drinks, according to one of the partners of the Italian restaurant.
“The gentleman and I assume it was a date of his, a woman, came in around 10 p.m.,” Maureen Campbell told ABC News.
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Anonymous 'TipsforJesus' Is 'Doing the Lord's Work' By Leaving Thousands of Dollars in Tips Thanking the Good Samaritans, Secret Santas as Holiday Season Comes to an EndWhen the man closed out his first tab, he left a $1,000 tip on a $331.40 bill, according to a photo of the receipts posted on Instagram by one of the three Crudo servers who received the tips, Clint Spotleson.
After closing their tab, the pair decided to stay for more drinks, according to Campbell. The result was a tip 10 times that amount.
“That was the $10,000 tip, on the second tab,” Campbell said.
Scrawled on the receipt were the words “Tips for Jesus,” a reference to the anonymous person or people armed with a credit card and an Instagram account who has set out to "do the Lord's work, one tip at a time," since last year.
In addition to Spotleson, the $11,000 tip was shared by another bartender and a cocktail waitress. The three servers also chose to give some of the tip to the restaurant’s kitchen staff, an act by her employees that Campbell called “very nice.”
The man who left the tip at Crudo did the same at the restaurant last year, but only left a $2,500 tip at that time.
Though the tipper did not seek publicity for his generous act, he did stick around long enough to allow Spotleson and his co-workers to thank him.
“He did hand them the check before he left and they were very grateful for such a generous amount of money they received,” Campbell said. “I don’t know what his response was.”
Spotleson, who could not be reached today by ABC News, described his reaction to the tip in an interview with AOL.
“I was like, dropped everything I had and just froze for second.... I had a bottle in my hand when he said it. It was a quick slip, but I caught it. ... The owner just kind of gave me this look like, 'Oh, my gosh, wow!'" Spotleson said.
Spotleson also told AOL he walked home with $4,000 and paid it forward by giving bartenders at another local bar a $60 tip on a $40 bill.
“Those guys work hard ... so I just threw down a $100 bill and walked out," he said.