Answer:
I remember hearing this riddle some time ago but at the time I didn't put any effort into solving it. I'm glad I rediscovered it as it has been a lot of fun solving.
I believe what makes this tricky is the way it is framed. By starting at $27 then adding the $2 taken by the server we are then asked what happened to the other $1 which makes up the original $30 paid. This causes most to do something like this:
$9 x 3 = $27. $27 + $2 = $29. ? $1.
But we shouldn't be adding $2 to $27, we should actually be subtracting it. Here is what really happened:
$30 - $3 (returned to customers) = $27 (actually paid). $27 - $2 (kept by server) = $25 (actual bill).
There you have it. Just look at what actually happened instead of the misdirection the riddle wants us to look at.
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