Man Steals $10K in Tips From Apocalypse BBQ, Restaurant Offers Reward

Just two weeks after Miami's most popular spot for barbecue launched a brand new pop-up generating plenty of buzz, the restaurant has just experienced a robbery that directly impacted its employees.

"Earlier this morning around 2:30 in the morning, last night, Apocalypse got robbed," begins an Instagram story shared on Apocalypse BBQ's Instagram account by its founder, Jeff Budnechky.

According to Budnechky, in the early hours of Tuesday, September 3, at around 2:30 a.m., a subject entered the building and broke into the Kendall restaurant's safe and cash register. It is unclear whether said individual broke in physically or was granted access to the safe and cash register.

"Somebody came in here and got access to our safe and our cash register," he says. "They stole a bunch of money, but more importantly, they stole all of my employees' tips from the past two weeks. Shit's fucking wack."

Budnechky says the hard-earned tips that were wrongly stolen from his employees were from the past two weeks, meaning between $6,000 to $10,000 were stolen from them in total.

Thankfully, the entire robbery was caught on video.
Now, he is determined to find whoever was responsible for the heinous crime — and is seeking the support of his barbecue community and his loyal customers to assist him in his efforts. Budnechky says he will personally give $10,000 to anyone whose tip leads to an arrest of the suspect.

"Anybody that gives me any information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the individual involved, I've got a $10,000 check with your name on it. I want this person found, and I want this person arrested and brought to justice. This shit is mad wack," he proclaims with frustration. "I want this person arrested."

After sharing the video around 11 p.m. on Tuesday, September 3, restaurant regulars, fans, and customers quickly flooded Apocalypse's Instagram account sending their condolences and offering to help the spot out by even wanting to donate to the employees who lost their tips.

Although he isn't accepting donations, he has guaranteed that he is taking it upon himself to retrieve the full amount of tips owed to his employees. "Thank you so much, we have an overwhelming amount of support from the incredible community that we are blessed to be a part of," he shared to the restaurant's Instagram story the following day. "I want to let you guys know that personally I'm going to guarantee that not a penny is missing from them [my employees]. I will be reaching into my own pockets to make sure that they will not be impacted by this in any way, shape, or form," he says.

But this doesn't mean his search for the felon is over — it's only just beginning.

Budnechky says he is working with local law enforcement to bring the individual to justice. "Fuck that guy. We're here to make incredible barbecue and that's exactly what we're going to keep doing," he says. According to Budnechky, if fans really want to support the restaurant, they simply have to stop by Apocalypse BBQ and order from the menu.

If you have any information about this robbery, please call Miami-Dade County Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS (8477).