This waitress received generous tips from a table she was serving at Oven and Tap in Bentonville. The local real estate firm having the company meal left her a great tip!
When the group departed, they decided to contribute $100 each and present it to Ryan Brandt and her coworker as a thank you for their service. We’re talking about a big group here, giving them $100 each to split between them. This is a gathering of over 40 individuals. They ended up donating close to $4,000 to each of the waitresses!
The heartwarming story of this act of generosity quickly went viral, with many people saying the couple deserved it.
Grant Wise, in an interview with CBS 5, said:, “We knew servers were really hit hard through COVID, and it was something that we had come up with to help give back.”
For Ryan Brandt and her colleague, it was a complete game-changer…
The news about this amazing gift eventually subsided, but it has recently made a resurgence when individuals learned that Ryan, the waitress, was dismissed as a result of it!
Despite Brandt’s delight at receiving the generous present since she will be able to pay off her student loans, her shift supervisor informed her that she would have to share the money with another employee. Because Brandt’s coworker also received a gratuity, she was somewhat perplexed. According to the supervisor, an employee that didn’t even interact with those clients should get a portion of the tip as well.
Brandt was outraged. She had been working at the restaurant for over three years and she never had to do anything like that before; they only split tips amongst employees who served the same table.
The restaurant’s owner later learned that the real estate executive who received Brandt’s tip had called to clear things up. He informed the supervisor that the information was intended for Brandt and should not be passed on to anyone else.
Despite the supervisor’s capitulation, something else continued to occur…
The next morning, Brandt’s phone rang. It was her restaurant telling her she no longer had a job there. She was in shock and couldn’t believe what was happening. Even though Oven and Tap tried to explain that losing the job wasn’t related to the incident with the tip, Brandt feels like there must be a connection because of how everything happened so close together in time.
Oven and Tap released the following statement:
“After dining, this large group of guests requested that their gratuity be given to two particular servers. We fully honored their request. Out of respect for our highly valued team members, we do not discuss the details surrounding the termination of an employee.”
Grant Wise was astonished when he found out what happened. Because of that tip, the woman they wanted to help lost her job. So he set up a GoFundMe campaign for Brandt. Soon, donations pour in and the campaign raised over $8,700.
Brandt released his own video explaining the situation, even though it remains unclear why he was fired. Wise believes the reasons to be clear, despite the lack of transparency from those in charge.
