A disappointing restaurant visit took a more troubling turn for one North Carolina woman after she checked her card statement. Kala, who posts on TikTok as @thatgirlkala22, says she and a friend struggled to figure out how to order at Barbaro Durham, waited around for assistance, and eventually discovered a $7 charge despite leaving no tip. She shared her account on TikTok while asking viewers how she should respond.
She explained that customers in the restaurant are not greeted and must find their own seats. Kala claimed she and her friend had to keep asking the bartender at the bar how to order food and be seated, and the bartender replied, “It’s pretty much just sit wherever you want.”
They waited about 20 minutes without anyone checking on them, she said, and eventually played one of the games available while figuring out the process. Her friend later asked how to order, and was told, “Oh, you got to come up here and order at the bar.”
Kala describes ordering at the bar and the alleged tip charge
Kala said she ordered two burgers, two margaritas, and fries that came to about $56. She noted the menu was small with only about 10 items and called the amount a lot of money, but added that the burger was really f–king good.
She stated she left a $0 tip on the receipt because she felt she had serviced herself. Kala said none of the three or four staff members had helped them, so she told her friend, “I am not tipping them because we literally had to service ourselves.”
She claimed that the next morning she saw a $7 tip charged to her card, taking the total from $56 to $60. Kala insisted she remembered putting zero and said, “I never tipped them. I know I didn’t tip them because I put $0 on my receipt.”
She explained she tried calling the restaurant twice, but they would not answer. Kala asked viewers, “So what do I do? What do I do about that? That’s considered falsifying a tip because I verbatim remember saying that I do not want to tip because of that.”
She acknowledged the amount was small but said it was still her money and the principle mattered. Kala described the atmosphere as very disrespectful and said the staff did not want to talk to them or be bothered. Her complaint echoes another North Carolina diner who said a Japanese restaurant forced a 9% tip on her.
She invited others who had eaten there to share experiences and offered advice. Kala noted the young ladies had no name tags and that she had gone there for a good time, accepting the expensive food because the burgers were good, but called the tip situation crazy.
In the comments, one viewer suggested disputing the charge with the bank. Another commenter wrote, “No thats unacceptable, that’s not their money to take.” A different person shared a positive take and wrote, “Maybe you should give it another chance they always have fun events and I mean it is a dive in bar you do order at the bar but other than that I’ve always have had a fun time with the girls.”
Someone else recommended reporting it as a fraudulent charge to the bank, the BBB and the attorney general’s office. Another viewer simply stated, “thats stealing.” Similar tipping disputes have surfaced elsewhere in the state, including a man who investigated a restaurant’s alleged forced tipping.
Published: Oct 27, 2026 12:15 pm