Wayland Restaurants Targeted For 'Venmo Challenge'

WAYLAND, MA — At least one lucky restaurant worker in Wayland is going to get an enormous tip this week.

The "Venmo challenge" is coming to Wayland. It's a movement that sprang up on TikTok during the pandemic challenging diners to give outsized tips to service workers.

Locally, the Facebook group Chew On This has been hosting a weekly Venmo challenge. A member of the group has been visiting restaurants in cities and towns in the MetroWest area to surprise one lucky worker with the big tip. In recent weeks, they've hit Andaman Thai in Framingham, The Corner Market in Holliston, Pizza By Rocco in Natick and Linquine's in Marlborough.

The challenge starts when members of the Chew On This group send money to administrator Jillian Kaplan (Venmo: Jillian-Kaplan-3). She collects up to $500 and then picks a restaurant in a given town to visit and deliver the surprise.

The Wayland stop will happen on Friday — but Kaplan won't reveal which restaurant was picked until after the tip gets delivered. She posts a video of each gift.

But the challenge will continue in the weeks ahead. Up next is a restaurant in Waltham, followed by restaurants in Milford, Southborough, Ashland and then Sudbury on March 12.