Restaurant server fulfills woman's unusual request to honor fallen soldier

ByJustin Sedgwick WTVD logo
Friday, September 4, 2015
A Buffalo Wild Wings server shared a touching story on Facebook about a woman who purchased a memorial beer for her brother who died in combat in Iraq.
creativeContent-KIRO

Brian Avey isn't permitted to serve more than one beer at a time to customers at the Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant in Tacoma, Wash. But when he heard one woman's touching story about her brother who had been killed while serving in Iraq, he gladly served two.

On July 9, Brian Avey shared a story on Facebook about a woman who came into his restaurant for lunch. The woman ordered two beers -- a Blue Moon and a Corona.

"She ordered a Blue Moon and a Corona, I told her she could only do one beer at a time," Avey wrote in his Facebook post. But Avey said the woman had purchased a beer for her brother who died in Iraq and that she wouldn't be drinking it.

"It just sat next [to] her at a empty seat her entire lunch," Avey wrote. He then brought the woman her bill and said that the restaurant would be taking care of her tab.

The customer then scribbled a note on her receipt expressing her gratitude for Avey and the restaurant's kind gesture.

"Thank you. An act of kindness goes a long way," the message read. "It means a lot to me. Have a great rest of your day."

After the customer left, Avey says he didn't have the heart to throw away the beer, so he kept it on top of a cooler next to an American flag. He showed his boss the receipt, who then requested that Avey put a fresh lime in the beer every morning.

Avey's story of the woman quickly went viral, amassing over 70,000 likes and 31,000 shares.

"Such a sweet story, let us never forget how much our military families sacrifice for our freedom everyday," commented one Facebook user.

"Amazing what a little kindness will do for someone! Thanks for sharing," commented another.

The beer and the flag continue to sit in a place of honor at the restaurant, which has received calls of thanks from all over the world, according to KIRO.