Waitress Gets 2 Massive Tips in Same Night Thanks to College Basketball Rivalry

A waitress from Florida received two massive tips on the same night thanks to college basketball. Kimberly Filion, 45, works at Kirby’s Sports Grille in Juno Beach and received two tips totaling $2,800 on Feb. 18. The tips were inspired by a national tip-off challenge that started among college basketball fans in Cincinnati.

Filion told the Palm Beach Post one man left a $1,300 tip on a $30 tab after learning about the Crosstown Tip-Off Challenge, which started with fans from Xavier University and the University of Cincinnati. She was interested because of her connection with Ohio as she is a graduate of Ohio State University. The customer who left the tip also left a note that said: “Five Kelley Boys love Kirby’s in Juno Beach, FL! They cook your catch! Let’s go XU nation! [&UC] Let’s get this to the national level!”

Filion said she tried to catch the customer before he left but couldn’t find him. Later that night, Filion talked about the incident with one of her regular customers. The man was not a fan of Xavier or Cincinnati but left a $1,500 tip on a $78 tab. “He wrote something like, ‘I want to be the king,’” Filion said.

Filion then told her coworkers about the tips and then shared the money with them. “I tried to spread the wealth as much as I could,” she says. “We have employees here who are single moms. We have one employee who just had a baby.” Filion also talked about how times have been tough in the restaurant industry, especially being a single mom. She began working as a server when her marriage ended and has worked her way up to being Kirby’s bar manager.

“This is your local, family-owned bar and it’s my home away from home. The people here are like my family. Some of my customers ask me if I live here. I tell them I sleep on top of the pool table,” she says. “People say, ‘Hey, are you the owner?’ I think that’s because I treat it as if it’s my place.”

The tip-off challenge comes right before the NCAA Tournament, which will start next week. It’s unlikely Xavier will make it to the tournament after losing to Butler in the Big East Conference Tournament. As for Cincinnati, the team will face SMU in the AAC Championship game on Friday.