‘The Chicken’s Like Old’: North Carolina Woman Says Restaurant Forced Her To Tip on Tablet, Wouldn’t Let Her Leave or Tip Cash. Then a Man Tests It

Tipping for poor service never ceases to provoke a heated debate online. With the implementation of screens demanding a tip, it has become the bane of many people’s existence. Combining these topics into two separate but similar experiences by a couple of creators at Konnichiwa sent viewers up in arms.

What Happened At This Restaurant?

“So, yesterday, my [friends and I] ate here at Konnichiwa in Winston-Salem,” TikTok creator Kelly (@kellybellyy_) says. “We had the weirdest experience ever.”

From here, she dives into the story, specifically highlighting an incident during payment.

“So, the waitress brings the little paypad thing with Apple Pay, and she gives it to us to do the tap pay,” she recalls. “We put ‘no tip’ because we plan to tip in cash. She proceeds to take it from us, types in $9, and hands it back to us.”

Around and around they went to the point where she alleged the server snatched the tablet. Subsequently, the group yanked it right back to pay, expressing their annoyance by leaving absolutely nothing.

Frustrated, she says she tried to call and get a hold of a manager to voice this complaint. After a couple of failed attempts, the manager returned the call. This in itself was an unproductive conversation.

“We tried to explain what happened. He just kept talking over all of us,” the content creator recounts. “The manager also tried to say that we came there a couple of times and we’re just horrible customers. That was literally my first time ever there.”

As a result, Kelly is banned from the restaurant. Even so, she doesn’t recommend it to anyone.

Kelly’s Deeper Dive at Konnichiwa

During an interview with The Mary Sue, Kelly shared what it was about Konnichiwa that appealed to her.

“[My friends and I] really enjoy Japanese or sushi cuisine, so we looked up Japanese on Apple Maps and that’s how we found Konnichiwa,” she revealed via Instagram direct message. “The pictures of the food looked good so we chose to eat there.”

While the rest of the experience was uneventful, this instance and the manager’s response irritated her.

“When she tried to force the tip, I was really upset and so were my friends that’s when I had spoke up,” she recalled. “When we spoke to the manager, we were all shocked the fact he was immediately disrespectful and would not let us tell our side. Completely unprofessional.”

Due to how unpleasant the server treated the content creator and her friends, this was the first time she did not leave a tip.

“I’ve never left a $0 tip before ever. I’ve always been a very generous tipper and have always been on the fact that you should always tip,” Kelly shared. “I’ve also been a waitress before. I’ve never had an experience ever like I did at Konnichiwa.”

Despite the uncomfortable encounter, she hopes this could be a valuable lesson.

“I just hope this teaches an example of how important it is to keep good customer service. Any issue can easily be resolved by being understanding and communicating so for our concerns to be completely ignored is ridiculous,” she said. “The fact that other customers have had the same experience is horrible. It’s important to have manners and be respectful and being disrespectful to customers is a bad look on a business.”

Viewers Are Angry

Kelly’s video garnered over 64,000 views, where the incident stoked the ire of many in her comments section.

“This is INSANE. Put this place on blast girl. I’m in WS too and I’ll let everyone know not to ever give this place any money,” one viewer commented.

“I wouldn’t have tipped after that either,” another agreed.

“Ouuu girl you better then me dats all ima say,” a third remarked.

“Wtf is wrong w these people,” a fourth criticized.

Another Creator Tests It

“I was scrolling on TikTok and I saw this video about this girl named Kelly that went to Konnichiwa and was forced to tip by the waitress,” food reviewer Jorge Mock (@jorgemock) says.

Despite Kelly’s warning, he embarks on a journey to the sushi restaurant to test this himself.

“This one is for you, Kels,” he says.

Once he’s seated, he orders a lemon with water along with an iced tea, the Mama Roll, the Godzilla roll, and Bang Bang Chicken. After the order arrives, he chows down on the Mama Roll, earning his stamp of approval.

“This always hits,” he says, chewing on his seafood, moving on to the Godzilla roll. “Can have a little more spice. It’s missing all of the toppings, but it’s good.” 

Then, the content creator dines on the Bang Bang Chicken, which is not up to par.

“That is dry as [expletive],” the content creator criticizes. “Oh, my god. I can’t tell if that’s old or what.”

However, Mock makes this explicitly clear to the female server and has it removed from the bill. Overall, he enjoyed his meal.

“That was delicious. I’m super full. The only thing that was disappointing was their excuse for a chicken,” he says. 

Now, it’s time for the moment of truth. When the server holds the tip tablet to him, she insists he tip her.

“For dining, select [one of] four tips,” she says, referring to the four options on the screen.

Although the content creator refuses to tip on the screen, he leaves a cash tip, but because of the food, not the service.

“Yeah, she definitely tried to force us to tip,” he concludes. “We’re gonna tip $5 because the sushi was actually really good but that’s crazy.”

Mock’s In-Depth Konnichiwa Encounter

In an interview with The Mary Sue, Mock explored further how Kelly’s clip wound up on his FYP.

“A friend sent me Kelly’s video. Then a couple days after I saw it, I decided to go to the restaurant and see if it was true that they force you to tip,” he shared via Instagram direct message. “I’ve been to Konnichiwa probably around 4 or 5 times before I saw Kelly’s video. I always got the same thing and liked the sushi. I always tip so it was never a issue.”

There’s a first for everything. For him, it started with the Bang Bang Chicken complaint.

“I ordered my usual order. We tried the Bang Bang Chicken which we had never had before. The Mama Roll was good but the Bang Bang Chicken was extremely dry,” he recalled. “I’m not one to usually complain unless it’s really bad so I told the waitress and she took the food away and told I guess the manager. He came to the table and said that’s just the way they make it and he could add some extra sauce.”

Finally, how the server reacted to not leaving a tip, which was a first for the content creator.

“Then when the waitress brought the check, I hit ‘no tip’ because I didn’t like how they basically tried to excuse themselves from the dry chicken and to see what the reaction would be,” he said. “As you see in the video, she says, ‘For dine-in you have to tip.’ So right there was my answer.”

To squash possible conflict, Mock decided to give a cash tip. Because of how viral his video went, he doesn’t have intentions to return, jokingly referring to what happened to Kelly as his possible fate.

His Viewers Are Equally Seething

Mock’s video traveled to more screens, amassing 7.4 million views. Like Kelly’s comments section, his viewers’ blood boiled.

“Nobody forcing me to do nun,” one viewer commented.

“If [you’re] demanding a tip I aint tipping tf. Thats not how that works,” a second said.

“You left a tip anyway …after she pulled that absolutely not,” a third noted.

“I would left a penny. Ik ts would p** them offf,” a fourth wrote.

Can Restaurants Coerce Customers To Tip?

According to Newsweek, there isn’t a federal law that requires customers to tip. However, the only time a gratuity is required is through an automatic gratuity. Unlike traditional tipping, automatic gratuity is mandatory because it is technically a service charge that must be paid and disclosed. Restaurants usually have this in place for parties of six or more, so waitstaff is compensated fairly for their efforts. In the same vein, a server adding tips or including a service charge without notifying customers is illegal, per The Takeout.

@jorgemock This Restaurant Forces you to Tip?!‼️#winstonsalem #restaurantreview #viralvideo #konnichiwa #customerexperience ♬ original sound – Mock

The Mary Sue reached out to Konnichiwa via email.

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