Tips For Jesus: Mysterious Patron Leaves $11,000 Tip At Phoenix Restaurant

A mysterious diner known as “Tips for Jesus” left a late Christmas gift for some lucky restaurant servers — a total of $11,000 in tips.

The customer, who lives in the Phoenix area and has gained fame for leaving thousands of dollars in tips, struck again in the days just after Christmas. After dining at Crudo restaurant on December 27, the patron closed out the tab on his $331.40 bill and left a $1,000 tip.

But the man didn’t leave then, said a restaurant spokesperson. Instead he stayed and had more drinks, then left an even bigger tip.

“That was the $10,000 tip, on the second tab,” said Maureen Campbell, one of the partners at the Italian restaurant.

Next to the tip were the words “Tips for Jesus,” the trademark of the anonymous donor who features his work on an Instagram account an aims to “do the Lord’s work, one tip at a time.”

A waiter at Crudo said the $11,000 tip was shared by three servers, who also gave some of it to the kitchen’s staff.

The person who left the tip didn’t want his name published, but did stay long enough for the wait staff to thank him.

“He did hand them the check before he left and they were very grateful for such a generous amount of money they received,” Campbell said. “I don’t know what his response was.”

This isn’t the first time the Tips for Jesus patron has made an appearance at Crudo. He also dined there last year, but this time left only a $2,500 tip.

The patron has made a number of other giant tips in the last year. Sometimes the money seems too good to be true, which is what happened to 67-year-old Ron Kinney last year. When Tips for Jesus left Ron a $7,000 tip, the waiter thought it was fake and threw it away.

While the Tips for Jesus patron hasn’t come out publicly, many reports have identified him as PayPal vice president and multi-millionaire Jack Selby.