'Tips for Jesus' Strikes Again In California, Arizona with $13K Tips

A waiter carries pizza at a restaurant in Rome, May 11, 2007. | (Photo: Reuters/Dario Pignatelli)

The national "Tips for Jesus" phenomenon struck again in recent days when a waitress in California received a tip for $2,000, while another waitress in Arizona received a $11,000 tip.

The first generous tip was left at the Phoenix, Arizona restaurant Crudo just two days after Christmas on December 27. Servers who were working at the restaurant at the time said a patron entered the establishment in the evening to have some after-dinner snacks and drinks, being joined by his date at around 10 p.m.

The customer reportedly closed out his first bill with a $1,000 tip, and then proceeded to order another round of drinks with his date. On the second bill, the patron wrote a generous $10,000 tip, scrawling on the receipt that the act of kindness was done was part of the "Tips for Jesus" movement.

"The first one [bill] he just filled out and left on the table. Then he was like, 'You know, I'll have another round.' Then the second one, he was like, 'Let's have fun with this one.' And he said to his friend, 'Put 10K on this one.' And she was like, 'OK,'" Clint Spotleson, bartender at the Phoenix-area restaurant, told The Republic. "I kept composure because the guests were right in front of me at the time. We still had seven or eight people in the bar at the time. I just acted like nothing really happened."

The second Tips for Jesus event happened in San Francisco on January 2, when the staff at the Tacolicious restaurant received a $2,000 tip on a $50 tab. That receipt also noted that the tip was left as part of the Tips for Jesus movement.