Khalil Cavil, who worked at a steakhouse in the US state of Texas, has confessed to fabricating a racially-charged message on a bill. (Photos: Facebook/Khalil Cavil)

When Khalil Cavil, a waiter at a Texan steakhouse, complained that a customer wrote "We don't tip terrorists" on a bill, he said he was left "sick to the stomach".

But Cavil, 20, now says he faked the message.

This, after the restaurant, Saltgrass steakhouses, banned the diner.

This, after Cavil said his father gave him an Arabic name in memory of a dear friend.

This, after the young man said his Facebook post on the bill was about shedding light on racism and "sharing the love of Jesus".

Cavil confessed to a reporter at the Odessa American that he'd fabricated the message. "I did write it...I don't have an explanation. I made a mistake. There is no excuse for what I did," he was quoted as saying by the newspaper on Monday.

In a statement cited in multiple news reports, a top executive at Saltgrass said the company found out that Cavil had faked the message, and rescinded the ban on the customer.

Racism of any form is intolerable...Falsely accusing someone of racism is equally disturbing. - Terry Turney, Saltgrass COO

The Odessa American said it learned from "officials" that Cavil doesn't work at the steak house any more.

It quoted him as saying that money he received from social media users was "being returned", and that he was "in the process of getting the help I need".

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