A waiter faked a story about getting a racist message instead of a tip, a Texas restaurant said, and he is no longer working at the the Saltgrass Steak House in Odessa.
Khalil Cavil, 20, claimed that a customer left him no tip, circled his name on the receipt and wrote "We don't tip terrorist," the Odessa American reported. That was on July 14, and after he posted the receipt on Facebook he received about $1,000 in donations.
"I share this because I want people to understand that this racism, and this hatred still exists," Cavil had written in the now-deleted Facebook post. "Although, this is nothing new, it is still something that will test your faith."
The steak house initially had banned the falsely-accused customer from the restaurant, CBS News reported, but then an investigation showed the incident never happened.
"After further investigation, we have learned that our employee fabricated the entire story," Terry Turney, chief operating officer for Saltgrass said in a statement to the Odessa American. "The customer has been contacted and invited back to our restaurant to dine on us. Racism of any form is intolerable, and we will always act swiftly should it occur in any of our establishments. Falsely accusing someone of racism is equaling disturbing."
On Monday, Cavil talked to a reporter at the Odessa American.
"I don't have an explanation,” Cavil said. “I made a mistake. There is no excuse for what I did."
Cavil said money donated to him was being processed and being returned. He said his apology to Saltgrass and the newspaper was his "first step into making it right," according to the Odessa American.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.