‘We Don’t Tip Terrorist’: Customer Reportedly Banned From Steakhouse After Leaving Racist Note On Receipt

UPDATE, July 24, 2018: Khalil Cavil, the waiter who claimed to have received a racist note on a customer receipt, now admits he fabricated the entire incident. Below is the original story.

A racist note, a zero-dollar tip, and plenty of social media outrage later, a Texas steakhouse has banned a customer who labeled a server a "terrorist."

Khalil Cavil, a server at the Saltgrass Steak House in Odessa, Texas, shared the incident, including a photo of the receipt, on Facebook on Sunday. The receipt shows a bill of $108.73, with $0 tip, and a note that reads “We don’t Tip Terrorist” pointing to Khalil’s name, which is circled. The date on the receipt shows the incident took place on Saturday.

“At the moment I didn’t know what to think nor what to say, I was sick to my stomach,” he wrote in the Facebook post, which has since been shared more than 18,000 times. “I share this because I want people to understand that this racism, and this hatred still exists.”

Cavil, identified as a 20-year-old black student by the Odessa American, refused to share any details about the customers to the Odessa-based newspaper.

Saltgrass Steak House has since banned the customer behind the message, the newspaper reported.

“We stand by and support our employee,” Terry Turney, COO of Saltgrass Steak House told the Odessa American. “Racism of any form is unacceptable and we have banned this customer from returning to our establishment.”

Cavil has told ABC-affiliate KMID that he was named after his father’s friend from the military, and has no Middle Eastern roots. Khalil is commonly known as a Muslim name, and means “friend.”

Cavil, who told KMID of his “faith in Jesus Christ,” told the newspaper, “It was not about the money. It was never about the money, it's about shedding the light on an issue I feel very passionate about.”

Facebook users have poured in with their support on his post, and some even sent tips of their own, KMID reported.

He also told Odessa American that he was not sure if he would be receiving as much support if he were actually Middle Eastern, or Muslim.

“People may overlook that,” he said. “But I definitely hope this encourages other people — no matter what race, no matter what religion — to voice out that this kind of racism and this kind of hatred is not OK.”

He wrote a follow-up post on Facebook on Wednesday expressing his gratitude for all those who came forward and supported him.

“There has been so much support and encouraging messages that it's been hard to keep up with all of them,” he wrote. “But to all of the people who have sent me money I want to thank you as well. I want to make it very clear that this was never about the tip nor the money.”

It is unclear how much money he received, but he said he would donate the money received after this Islamophobic incident, perhaps ironically, to missionary services through his church to “help other people spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to different places around the world.”

Oxygen.com has reached out to Cavil for comment.

[Photo: Getty Images]