Usually when someone leaves an exorbitant tip at a restaurant, folks ask things like, “What made them so generous? What’s the heartwarming story behind it?” But one restaurant owner was a bit more practical after a drunk customer left $1,000 on the table for servers, asking instead, “Did he even mean to do that, or will he just want his money back?” It turns out she was right to ask those questions, because he didn’t, and he did.

A server at a Thai restaurant in Edgewater, CO received a $1,088 tip from a customer over the weekend and brought it to the owner to put in a tip jar that’s split up among the staff, the Denver Post reports. At first, it was all excitement and rejoicing over the amount, the owner says.

“He said he’d read a lot of stories like this, but usually the tip is a couple hundred dollars, not $1,000,” she said of the server who found the tip in the check folder. “He was so happy.”

But her gut feeling was to tell the staff to simmer down and not get too excited, just in case the customer came back later. The very next day, he returned when the restaurant opened, and she gave him his money back.

“He said, ‘I’m sorry, I was drunk,’ ” she said. “He didn’t know he put all the money he had in the checkbook.”

Her guess? He might have thought some of the $100 bills were $1 bills. He gave her the money to cover his meal and about $40 for a tip.

It was likely a disappointment for the staff, sure, but the owner says she’s pleased with how she handled what could’ve been a very touchy situation.

“I think he will come back,” she said of the customer.

Drunk customer leaves $1,000 tip for Colorado restaurant, takes it back next morning [Denver Post]

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