A customer at a restaurant in Ohio is sure to take the lead from Santa, leaving a special surprise for the staff this holiday season. The guest left a $ 5,600 tip for the workers, who the owner says “a great gesture of kindness. “
“This really happened,” Moussa Salloukh wrote on December 13 on the Facebook page of his Toledo restaurant, Souk Mediterranean Kitchen & Bar, which has been open since October 2019. “Last night, one of our guests left a $ 5,600 tip to give to all of our employees, whether they worked on that shift or not.”
The chef and owner said each person received $ 200 with the tip split among his 28 employees.
Salloukh also posted a photo of the check that totaled just $ 0.01 before the tip was added. The benefactor is only identified as “Billy” in the post.
“The words ‘Thank you’ don’t seem adequate for this gift … but Thank you Billy, for your generous spirit and for making a difference in people’s lives, I care a lot about this holiday season,” added Salloukh.
Salloukh explained that this year’s generosity was especially “much needed and much appreciated” because of the corona pandemic.
“This is no ordinary December,” he wrote in the post. “Normally this is a month when our employees work extra and tip guests generously. December is a month for them to earn money to buy family gifts, save a little, and take care of bills or repairs that are far from over. With Covid restrictions and guidelines, that wouldn’t happen for them this year. “
Restaurants, bars and their staff have been around the country especially hit hard By the pandemic, after multiple restriction rounds and expensive starts and stops in connection with the crisis.
The National Restaurant Association estimated that more than 110,000 establishments were closed permanently or temporarily on Dec. 1, according to survey data released earlier this month.