The guest, who asked the restaurant to let him remain anonymous, was dining at Souk Mediterranean Kitchen in Toledo on December 12 when he left the huge tip for all 28 employees – including those who were off that day. After distributing it, each staff member took home $ 200.
“There were a lot of tears, I’m crying about them now,” Moussa Salloukh, Souk’s owner and chef, told CNN. “Your restaurant staff become your family and everyone cares about each other. I stayed out of the kitchen to give employees hours to get through and put presents for their kids under the tree, so this was so tremendous for us.”
Several employees who couldn’t afford a Christmas tree or gifts for their families due to the pandemic told Salloukh that the only thing that “made it possible” was the tip.
“A lot of them felt like someone was looking at them and looking down on them. It gave us a lot of hope, it was just a beautiful thing to do for 28 strangers you don’t even know,” said Salloukh.
Salloukh opened his restaurant in October 2019 and, like many entrepreneurs, struggled to keep it alive due to the coronavirus pandemic.
But now that the restaurant is back on its feet, Salloukh says the friendly gesture is a “reminder” that despite the obstacles and struggles, everything will be fine.
“The restaurant was a tribute to my mother and everything was fine until March, when we were forced to close,” he added. “Financially there was a huge impact, but we’ve done just about everything to survive. Then all of a sudden this gentleman comes in and tips us $ 5,600 for all of our employees. ‘Thank you’ isn’t enough.”