When a meal is comp'd for an error, i.e. lost ticket, does the server get stuck with the bill?

We ate at a popular steakhouse yesterday, and after about 45 minutes of waiting for our food, the manager came and explained that the ticket had gotten eaten by the printer and our meals were just being prepared. So my dad half jokingly said so the meals are on the house, right? The manager paused for a split second and said so I'll be buying your dinner today. We also got a $30 voucher for our next visit. I feel kind of guilty, I'm hoping our server isn't penalized for what happened. I left him a tip anyway because he was very attentive otherwise.