Man Mails Heartfelt Apology Letter And Tip To North Carolina Restaurant After Receipt Mixup

A man who accidentally left a North Carolina restaurant without tipping his server is going viral for going above and beyond to make things right.

According to Side Street Pour House & Grill in Lenoir, a man named Ted accidentally took the wrong copy of his credit card receipt after stopping in for lunch with his wife in late December. Unfortunately, this meant their server, Hope, did not receive the tip he intended to leave her.

Ted, who was visiting from out of town, realized his error while reviewing his bank statement a few days later. Instead of brushing it off as an innocent mistake, he wrote a gracious letter to Side Street Pour House & Grill explaining the situation and enclosed a $20 bill for Hope. 

"That was no way for either of us to end 2023. Here's to a fresh start," Ted wrote.

The restaurant shared a photo of Ted’s letter on Facebook as a “beautiful example” of doing the right thing.

“Our servers work hard to give our customers excellent dining experiences and earn their tips, but sometimes either accidentally (like this example) or intentionally (which is really not cool) they find themselves left without,” the caption reads. “That's why we are loving this letter so much—it's a beautiful example of how to do the right thing!!” 

“Please tip your servers,” the post concluded. “If you realize you've made an error, it's never too late to make it right (like this customer, who doesn't even live locally but took the time to write this letter..we thank you and we appreciate you!!)”

Well done, Ted!