2 Utah Bars See $5K, $1K Tips

If you thought $500 tips sounded pretty incredible, check this out: Last weekend, someone left a $5,000 tip at a bar in Ogden, Utah; another nearby bar saw a $1,000 tip. It's assumed, but not confirmed, that the same person left both tips, and there may have been a third: The owner of one of the bars says he was told that a $1,000 tip was handed out on a golf course the day prior to the Ogden tips. One of the bars had to run part of the tip as a purchase, because its cash registers only allow for tips of up to 100% and this customer, says the owner, "was wanting to tip, like, 2,000%."

The $5,000 tip was left on a $214.75 bar tab, and the Standard-Examiner has a photo of the receipt. (It says the money caused some contention among staff members.) The $1,000 tip was left on a $49 bill, and was paid with an elite credit card; three bartenders and one server ended up splitting it. One of the employees double checked "several times" with the customer, the owner says, and another member of his party thanked the employee for that. "A lot of places, they’d just take the tip, no questions asked," the patron reportedly said, "even if it was taking advantage of someone who was drunk." (More strange stuff stories.)