The Crosstown tip-off challenge has made its way to Maysville.
Delite’s owner Melissa Crowe said Feb. 12 was a typical day at the restaurant, though a little slow until one woman walked up to the counter to pay her bill.
The woman, who was not identified, paid for her $24.97 meal with a card. On the tip line, she added a $1,000 tip. Crowe said she kept trying to get the woman to fix what she had believed was a mistake.
“She wrote down the tip and ‘go Bearcats’ on the slip,” Crowe said. “I kept telling her, ‘you need to fix this.’ She kept telling me to look it up. I was standing there with my mouth open, even though she couldn’t see it, and just kept telling me to go look it up.”
Crowe said she had never heard of the challenge before a woman entered her restaurant on Feb. 12. She said that after the woman left, she finally looked it up and realized what had happened.
“I still couldn’t believe it. Our biggest tip was $100 and that was during Christmas, but $1,000 — that’s just crazy,” she said. “I think it’s awesome and was so excited. I feel bad because if I had realized it was real, I would have made it a much bigger deal and thanked her more. But I truly thought it was a joke until after she left and I looked it up.”
The Crosstown tip-off challenge is an ongoing challenge between the University of Cincinnati and Xavier University fans. The fans go to different restaurants, leave a large tip and post a picture of the tip to challenge others to leave an even larger tip for the restaurant staff.
Tips left have ranged from $1,000 to $3,000.
“I think it’s just incredible,” Crowe said. “It’s really an amazing thing they’re doing.”
