FORT WORTH, Texas — Anyone in the restaurant industry will tell you that servers are the lifeblood of the business.
"They're very important," said Beto Ramos. "They are the first impression the customer gets of our restaurant."
And at Tres Betos in north Fort Worth, Ramos has some of the best servers around.
"Gorda!" he said, smiling. "Gorda’s been working for me for going on eight years. She can do anything, from helping in the kitchen to serving."
So when someone took advantage of Griselda Garcia, affectionately known as "Gorda," last week, everyone stepped up.
It was Friday when a man came in to place a to-go order. You can see on the restaurant's security video the moment he notices a tip someone left for Garcia on a table. After ordering, he takes a seat there and slowly moves the money closer with his elbow before pocketing the cash. He then waits minutes more for his take-out, and leaves.
"Why would he do that?" Garcia said. "Why would he do that to someone that worked hard for them and everything?"
"She's a mother of two," Ramos added. "Single mother of two."
"It could’ve been a $2 [tip], it could’ve been a dollar — that’s one dollar less Gorda's children are going to have."
Ramos decided to post video of the tip rip-off to Facebook, hoping to just identify the guy.
"I was disgusted," he said.
But what happened instead left everyone speechless. Support started streaming in for Garcia. They even started a GoFundMe for her, with Ramos matching the first $100. Then, customers started pouring in.
"People just came out of the woodwork, 'Where’s Gorda? Where’s Gorda? We want to give her a tip!'" Ramos said.
Two people during our shoot Thursday showed up for that very reason, dropping off $70 for her, just because.
"I was just taken aback how great the response was for her," he said.
The working mom now has hundreds thanks to generous patrons and it's thanks, she says, to the apparent thief.
"Yeah, it makes me happy," Garcia said. "It's all going to go to my kids."
As for the badly-behaved customer?
"Hope God will forgive him for what he did," Garcia said.
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