The tip amounts in the "Crosstown tip-off" rivalry between fans of the University of Cincinnati and Xavier University keep growing.
A nine-year employee of Kirby's in Loveland netted a $2,500 tip with the words "Go UC" on a $55 check Friday.
Also Friday, Xavier fans busted open their wallets to leave tips of $2,001 at Slatts Pub in Blue Ash and $2,031 at The Schoolhouse Restaurant in Symmes Township’s Camp Dennison.
Alumni and fans of the rival colleges have been trying to outdo one another in the Crosstown tip-off since the first $1,000 tip was left by a Xavier alumnus on Jan. 9.
There have been at least 19 other gratuities of more than $1,000 besides those left by Friday's generous tippers.
Kirby's has never seen a tip anywhere close to what was left Friday, said Erin Stathem, general manager.
"It’s very generous," Stathem said. "It’s a fun little rivalry you’ve got going on here."
No other Crosstown tip-off gratuities have been left at the Loveland bar and restaurant, but some much smaller tips in the tipping rivalry have been left at Kirby's Sky Galley at Historic Lunken Airport, she said.
In Loveland, Kirby's kitchen staff and even employees who were not on shift are all sharing the tip, Stathem said.
Friday night, Xavier University alumnus Beth Hake and a group of fellow diners presented employees of The Schoolhouse Restaurant in Camp Dennison with a poster board on which a $2,031 cash tip donated on behalf of Xavier was mounted.
A good deal of it was from parents of students at St. Ursula Villa in Mount Lookout, where Hake is a physical-education teacher. They organized the tip drive.
Hake described The Schoolhouse Restaurant as “a family-owned restaurant that we have been enjoying for years. Besides the best fried-chicken dinner and all the delicious sides, we love the people that wait on us.”
“Just like every restaurant in the surrounding area, the pandemic has hurt the people of The Schoolhouse who are trying to make a living,” she said in an email.
Hake said it has been uplifting to read about the tip battle and that she has been touched with the generous donations left by supporters of both sides.
Friday night, “It was the best, watching the gratitude of the workers of The Schoolhouse (and) knowing the generosity of my parents (at St. Ursula Villa) for giving me this opportunity, making my own donation (and) my family given the opportunity to participate and enjoying the best dinner,” she said.
Clint Wooldridge, owner of Slatts Pub in Blue Ash, said a longtime customer with whom he does charitable work donated a huge gratuity to keep Xavier University “in the game” Friday night.
“He casually ordered a take-out … and tipped $2001.00,” Wooldrige said in an email. The bill was $30.48.
“I am not exactly sure how this competition came about, but I am speechless and so grateful. This is simply a gift from God and one of the most incredible representation of the kindness of the human spirit that I have ever encountered.
“My staff has worked so hard and sacrificed so much to keep the doors open here. This is the same staff and customer base that donated to me, my restaurant, to purchase a new draft beer system in the middle of this pandemic/summertime when there was no way I could have afforded such an expense,” he said.
“They are an incredible staff and deserve every penny and every bit of recognition for their hard work and sacrifice.”
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