Ryan Brandt: Arkansas Waitress Fired by Restaurant After $4,400 Tip

Ryan Brandt is an Arkansas waitress who was fired by a restaurant after receiving a $4,400 tip.

Brandt worked for a restaurant in Bentonville, Arkansas, called Oven and Tap. According to Fox13Now, she received the massive tip after serving a party of 40 people. Each diner left $100, according to Fox59.

Branndt told KNWA-TV, “I was told that I was going to be giving my cash over to my shift manager, and I would be taking home 20%.” She said that hadn’t happened before.

Here’s what you need to know:

The Man Who Helped Orchestrate the Tip Calls it the $100 Dinner Club

Grant Wise is the co-founder of Witly Marketing. He was part of the party that gave Brandt the large tip. “It was an incredible thing to do and to see her reaction was awesome, to see what that meant to her, the impact that it’s had on her life already,” he told Fox59. He told the television station that he asked the restaurant to return the tip when he learned it wasn’t all going to Brandt, and when they did, he gave it to her anyway. She was fired. Brandt told KNWA that the restaurant told her she was being fired because she told Brandt tips were being pooled; he told the television station he had called ahead to ensure the tipping policy would allow the money to go to the server.

The restaurant told the television station, “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.” They have not confirmed the reason for her firing.

Wise gave additional details on Facebook, where he calls it the $100 dinner club.

“For anyone following the $100 Dinner Club story the last few days…we’re doing another one,” he wrote.

“After discussing it with Ryan directly, she and I both agreed that we could continue to raise more funds and ‘pay it forward’ to the next group of restaurant staff who would get the tip. So, I am reopening the GoFundMe campaign. In January, we are going to host another $100 Dinner Club and I have invited Ryan to be our ‘Guest of Honor’! Any dollar amount raised over the $8,732 that has already been raised and is being paid out to Ryan will be given directly to the staff of the restaurant we decide to eat at. We will be working to ensure through this that all staff in the restaurant are tipped so every single person in the restaurant feels blessed by our dinner.”

Realtor Rebecca Soto shared the video on Instagram and wrote:

We got to bless our server tonight with $4400 💕

As a group we collected 100 from each of us at the #witly CMO Conference.

I’m humbled to have been part of something so beautiful and generous. To bless someone else without previously knowing them. ❤️

@_josuesoto_legacy and I have been blessed, so it is wonderful to pay it forward and bless someone else.

Can you help the world?? Yes you can, start with yourself, then help lift someone else.

Thank you @likegrantwise for your heart of gold and organizing this. I’m proud to be in business with you and especially for your friendship.

God bless all who contributed and the servers who received it. I pray it may be multiplied and impact their life for the better.🙏🏻

#100dollardinnerclub #witly #sotolegacy #payitforward

People Are Filling the Restaurant’s Yelp Page With Negative Reviews

In the wake of Brandt’s firing, people are filling Oven and Tap’s Yelp page with negative reviews. Here are a few of them:

“What a Scrooge! Firing poor waitresses during this time of year, during a staffing crisis! Clearly no remorse for their staff, hence the lack of remorse for these reviews!:

“They fire their longtime employees for doing good work. They should be ashamed. Don’t support this place. Karma is in the Yelp reviews.”

“Never would give this business a dollar. What a disgrace to capitalism. Firing a server for receiving a ti[p designated to reward her hard work.”

The Oven and Tap restaurant has deleted its Facebook page. Its Instagram page is still active. The photos on the page feature items ranging from pizza to chicken sandwiches. “Small businesses are the heartbeat of your neighborhood, the spine of your local economy, and the spirit of your town. Thanks for always supporting our dream 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻” reads a recent post. You can find the restaurant’s website here.

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