Originally Posted by mcrt
I had somewhat of the opposite experience when I landed in Puerto Rico after traveling overseas for a year. At that point I knew I was back in the US by the way my change came back. I paid for a $12 meal with a $100 and got (roughly) 13-$1, 3-$5, 2-$10, 2-$20. I thought that was a bit overboard on the trying to get a big tip.
Probably more likely due to the waiter not having adequate change in their pocket. Hundreds are hard for waitstaff to break in cheaper restaurants.