A popular restaurant chain is facing backlash after a customer said he was subtly pressured to leave a tip while buying a $50 gift card.

The customer said he stopped into the restaurant to purchase a gift card for his wife as a present when a manager warned him the checkout screen was 'going to ask you a question' before turning the tablet around and prompting him to tip between 18 and 22 percent on the purchase.

Chicken Salad Chick is at the center of the controversy, a Southern-inspired fast-casual brand that has grown to more than 330 locations across 22 states. After the awkward exchange, the customer took to Reddit to vent about the interaction, sparking outrage from readers.

'I told her that I wouldn't be tipping, because my wife would also get asked to tip when she used the card and I didn't want to tip twice on the same money,' they wrote.

The manager said: 'I don't think it asks for a tip when you pay with a gift card, maybe it does'.'

The exchange sparked a heated debate online, with several Reddit users arguing the manager could have simply bypassed the gratuity screen before turning the tablet around.

'I hate when I go somewhere and they say the screen is going to ask a question,' one user wrote. 'Although a few people here and there have impressed me by just entering '0' before turning the screen my direction.'

'That's an odd response. Why wouldn't the manager just say it's the same screen for any purchase,' another added. 

Others felt the customer had overcomplicated what could have been a routine checkout interaction by explaining why he didn't want to leave a gratuity.

'Why not just press no or $0? Why do you have to go into any explanation,' one user wrote. 'Also every restaurant bill asks for a tip regardless of payment - so apparently the conversation you had was equally matched individuals.'

Others argued the awkward exchange may have reflected growing frustration around America's increasingly unavoidable tipping culture, rather than the gift card purchase itself.

A similar debate recently erupted after reports emerged that restaurants in World Cup host cities prepared for a potential culture clash by adding mandatory gratuities to bills to avoid staff being shortchanged by international tourists.

Many restaurants reportedly tacked on tips of up to 20 percent when visitors descended on the US, Canada and Mexico for the FIFA World Cup 2026 - an event quickly labeled one of the most expensive sporting spectacles in history amid soaring costs for tickets, hotels and travel.

In much of Europe, service charges are already included in restaurant bills and tipping tends to be far less common, raising concerns that international visitors unfamiliar with US customs could unintentionally leave hospitality workers empty-handed.

The Daily Mail has reached out to Chicken Salad Chick for comment.