Restaurant Owners Get a Surprise From Snoop Dogg

Snoop Dogg's tab didn't clear in an Italian ski town, so he picked up the check with something most diners can't offer: Olympic tickets. The rapper and NBC correspondent for the 2026 Winter Games stopped at Cronox, a family-run gastropub in Livigno, where he ordered a cheeseburger, wings, nuggets, and fries, according Sofia Valmadre, daughter of the owners. When it was time to settle up, his credit card repeatedly failed, she told NBC Los Angeles. Snoop sent staffers back with the card to try again, but no luck.

Instead of pressing the issue, Valmadre's mother told him to forget the bill and enjoy the meal on the house. The family later received a surprise return gesture: five tickets to the men's snowboard halfpipe final at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina, worth far more than the meal. Valmadre thanked the rapper in a video posted on X, saying, "Grazie, Snoop!"

Snoop hasn't publicly explained why the card was declined, but the episode spread quickly on social media, where users joked that even a global star has to deal with card glitches, per the New York Post. For Cronox, known for late-night pizzas and salads, the brief payment hiccup turned into a front-row pass to one of the Games' marquee events.