Employees at a restaurant in Ohio received a Christmas gift they certainly were not expecting.
A customer left a $5,600 tip for the entire staff to split.
On December 12, the customer, who asked restaurant staff if he could remain anonymous, dined at Souk Mediterranean Kitchen in Toledo, CNN reported. The man left a massive tip for all 28 employees, including those who were off that day.
After splitting the amount, each staff member took home $200.
“There was a lot of tears, I’m tearing up now talking about it,” Moussa Salloukh, Souk’s owner and chef, said. “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.”
Several employees who could not afford a Christmas tree or presents because of the COVID-19 pandemic told Salloukh the tip was the only thing that “made that possible.”
“A lot of them felt like someone was looking and watching down on them,” Salloukh said. “It gave us a lot of hope, it was just a beautiful thing to do for 28 strangers you don’t even know.”
Salloukh opened his restaurant in October of 2019. Like many other business owners across the nation, his business has been struggling during the pandemic.
As the restaurant continues to stay open, Salloukh is grateful for the customer that gave a tip to all of the restaurant’s employees.
“The restaurant was a tribute to my mother and everything was going great until March, when we were forced to shut down,” he added. “Financially there was a huge impact, but we did just about everything to survive. Then all of a sudden this gentlemen comes in and gives us a $5,600 tip for all our employees. ‘Thank you’ isn’t enough.”
LISTEN NOW on the RADIO.COM App
Follow RADIO.COM
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram