TACOMA -- The Buffalo Wild Wings at 4219 South Steele Street in Tacoma is gaining national attention for how it honored a fallen soldier.
Bartender Brian Avey posted a photo of a beer and a servicewoman's receipt after the restaurant bought her the Corona in honor of her brother who died in Iraq.
The servicewoman wrote this on her bill: "Thank you. An act of kindness goes a long way. It means a lot to me. Have a great rest of your day. — Grateful Soldiers."
Avey said he didn't have the heart to throw out the beer after she left.
"I'm not going to throw a fallen soldier's beer away...I'm not going to be the one to do that," Avey said.
When Avey explained why there was a whole beer sitting on the cooler in the bar, the veteran bartender was amazed by his boss' response.
"He said, 'That's fine. Just do me a favor, put a fresh lime it in every morning,'" said Avey.
Avey said he didn't expect his post to get so much attention, he just thought it was a cool thing for his store to do.
The post has gone viral -- Avey's original picture has more than 40,000 shares on Facebook. And he says the restaurant is being interviewed on national news channels like CNN and Fox News.
"Our phone has been ringing off the hook," said Avey.
They've also seen a slight increase in business. Avey said some people have come in wanting to see the bottle.
While a few commenters online have said what the restaurant did was illegal, Avey explained that because the woman didn't drink from the bottle and the restaurant comped the beer, it's fine.
