One kind and generous customer left a $5,600 tip for the staff of a restaurant, leaving the owner in tears.
Talk about performing a kind gesture.
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In Toledo, Ohio, at the Souk Mediterranean Kitchen, the staff got quite a surprise. An unexpected but graciously accepted surprise.
One customer – who asked to remain anonymous – dined at the restaurant. After he finished his meal, he left the grand-sized tip for all 28 employees of the mediterranean restaurant.
The tip was divided up amongst the entire staff, allowing each person to clock out with a $200 bonus for the evening.
The restaurant owner, Moussa Salloukh, said, "There was a lot of tears, I’m tearing up now talking about it.”
$5,600 Tip For The Staff Is A Huge Blessing
Aside from the tip being a kind gesture, the money allowed some employees to pay for Christmas presents that would have otherwise been impossible.
“Your restaurant staff becomes your family and everyone cares about each other. I’ve been staying out of the kitchen to give employees hours to get through and put gifts under the tree for their kids, so this was so huge for us.”
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Their lack of income was a result of the pandemic. So this made the tip for the staff all the more appreciated.
Moussa added, "A lot of them felt like someone was looking and watching 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."
Mousssa just opened his restaurant last year, and for many small business owners like him, the pandemic led to an unexpected financial struggle. He and his employees were all affected.
However, they are blessed to still be open and available to the public. Around 60% of restaurants that closed will not reopen. The National Restaurant Association estimates that about 100,000 restaurants closed down this year, all resulting from the pandemic.
“The restaurant was a tribute to my mother and everything was going great until March, when we were forced to shut down,” Moussa shared.
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“Financially there was a huge impact, but we did just about everything to survive. Then all of a sudden this gentleman comes in and gives us a $5,600 tip for all our employees. ‘Thank you’ isn’t enough."
WATCH: Customer Leaves Huge Tip For Staff
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h/t: CNN