US restaurant flooded with bad reviews as $16,000 tip sparks fierce debate

A US restaurant has suffered a spate of bad reviews after a generous tip from one of its diners propelled it into the spotlight.

The Stumble Inn hit headlines after one customer left $16,000 (around £11,456) to his waiter following a $37 meal of chilli dogs and fries.

The owner of the New Hampshire bar told local media that he and his staff were overwhelmed by the anonymous man’s generosity, and that the money would be split among workers.

However, numerous people have been left outraged by the decision, insisting the woman who served the man should have received the full amount.

One furious Twitter user wrote in response: “So lemme get this straight, the same owner that’s ok with paying their servers $2.13 an hour ‘since they get tips’ is gonna turn around and decide what this employee has to do with that tip?

“I think the f***k not.”

Fellow commentators agreed, venting their indignation via a series of memes and gifs:

Their fury extended to other social media platforms, including the restaurant’s Instagram page.

The Stumble Inn hasn’t posted since 2018, yet users decided to respond to its last entry with demands for justice for the waiter.

One wrote: “It’s not fair that you’re taking that server’s money. It’s for her, not everyone working that day. She should sue.”

Another commented emphatically: “GIVE THE WAITRESS HER FULL MONEY DON’T BE A CLOWN.”

Critic’s seized on the restaurant’s Instagram accountnhstumbleinn/Instagram

Meanwhile, the Stumble Inn was plagued with scores of negative comments on Google and other review sites.

One wrote: “It’s not right for the owner to decide to split a $16,000 tip between 12 servers when it was left to ONE server.

“That server so clearly went above and beyond for that customer to feel comfortable leaving a grand tip like that. Shame on you for taking that from them and ‘splitting it’.”

The restaurant’s owner Mike Zarella, clearly fed up with the relentless trolling, replied by telling critics to “get [their] facts right,” insisting it was customary for staff to split tips daily.

Following the mystery diner’s visit, Michelle McCudden, who was working that evening, said the customer’s kindness had “restored her faith in humanity”.

She told NBC Boston: "I’ve been doing this a very long time and I never thought anything like this would happen to me.

"For someone to do something like that really restored my faith in humanity. He just said that we work really hard and he wanted to do something nice and he just really wanted us to have it."

The eight servers who were working that night split the tip between them and divided up among the kitchen staff too, Zarella said.

According to local news anchor Amaka Ubaka, the boss didn’t receive a cent of the five-figure sum.

McCudden said she and her colleagues were in awe of the “mystery man” who has chosen to remain anonymous.

“We went up and we thanked him,” she said. “It’s just been a really rough year for all of us.”