[UPDATE 7/24: Cavil admits to having fabricated the entire incident.]
There are more than 70 Saltgrass Steak House locations, scattered throughout Texas and seven other states, each one serving steaks, chicken, and seafood that “recapture the flavor of the open campfire.” And now, there’s one unquestionably racist individual who has been banned from eating at any of them.
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On Saturday night, Khalil Cavil had the misfortune of serving that customer at the Saltgrass Steak House in Odessa, Texas. When Cavil collected the receipt from that person’s table, he saw that he or she had inked a “0” in the line where a tip would go, and had also written “We don’t tip Terrorist [sic]” at the top. The issue seems to have been Khalil’s first name, which was circled as justification for that ‘Terrorist’ comment.
Cavil posted a photo of the receipt on Facebook. “Last night at work I received this note from one of my tables,” he wrote. “At the moment I didn’t know what to think nor what to say, I was sick to my stomach. I share this because I want people to understand that this racism, and this hatred still exists. Although, this is nothing new, it is still something that will test your faith.”
The 20-year-old Odessa native is understandably proud of his name, and his namesake. “My dad was in the military and a buddy that he was very close to, served with him […] Khalil was killed in an accident,” he told Big 2/Fox 24. “My dad just named me after him, one of his best friends.”
Cavil has declined to say anything about the person who left that nasty note. And, despite taking a job at Saltgrass so he could save up for when he goes to college later this year, he says it’s not about the money—even though he was stiffed on a $108 check. “It’s not about them, and it’s not about me,” Cavil told the Odessa American. “It’s about this hatred that is still going on, that is still here and prevalent. I just wanted people to understand that.”
He said that he will be drawing on his Christian faith to help him process all that ignorance and hatred. Terry Turney, the COO of Saltgrass Steak House, decided to take a more secular approach. “We stand by and support our employee,” Turney told MUNCHIES in a statement. “Racism of any form is unacceptable and we have banned this customer from returning to our establishment.”
