We Surprised a Cedar Rapids Waitress With a Massive Tip This Week

For the past couple of years, we've told you about a group of Eastern Iowa women who get together each holiday season to do something called a '$100 Dinner.' The concept is pretty simple: each dinner guest brings a $100 bill, and after you purchase your meal, you leave the rest of the money as a tip for the server. The bigger the group, the bigger the tip!

After writing about the $100 Dinner for the last two years, I was very excited to be able to participate for the first time this year. The mastermind behind the meal is Lisa Henderson-Locker, and I was honored that she thought to invite me! The purpose of sharing her story is to encourage others to consider doing something generous like this ahead of the holiday season.

Before choosing a restaurant and a server, Lisa reached out to a local restaurant owner to help decide on a deserving recipient. That recipient ended up being Kate Savarese, a server at both Cliff's Dive Bar & Grill and Moco Game Room & Hot Dog Bar in Cedar Rapids.

We ended up with a total of 15 people at last night's dinner, so we took over the private room at Cliff's Dive Bar. Kate was an incredible waitress and took great care of our rowdy group! At the end of the meal, our bill ended up being around $400, but we left Kate much more than that. I won't get into specifics, but Lisa had some additional donations from people who weren't able to attend the dinner, so it was a pretty impressive total! The food was also REALLY good...

The $100 Dinner is a fun and easy way to do something nice for a hard-working local server, and I HIGHLY recommend participating in one if you're able. It's the perfect time of year for it, too! Thanks again to Kate for her amazing service and to Lisa for setting up this fantastic meal. I had a ton of fun, so I'm hoping to make this a new holiday tradition!

P.S. - Kate hosts free BINGO on Monday nights at Cliff's! Stop out and have some fun!