Waitstaff of the Stumble Inn Bar and Grill in Londonderry, New Hampshire were the recipient of a generous $16,000 tip given by a patron on June 12 after he racked up a bill of a little under $40. A customer arrived at the restaurant and had a meal composed of chili dogs, fried pickle chips and drinks, which amounted to $37.93. He then gave the restaurant staff a tip amounting to $16,000.
Mike Zarella, who owns the New Hampshire restaurant, told WMUR that the very generous $16,000 tip was on the credit card statement which was placed next to the register. The patron even reminded the waitstaff, "Don't spend it all in one place."
"That's what made her flip it over and look, and she's like, 'Oh my god, are you serious?'" Zarella recounted. "And he said, 'I want you to have it, you guys work hard.'"
Zarella said after he was contacted by his eight bartenders who were shocked at the very generous $16K tip. He even thought it was a $160 tip with a typo in which the patron added extra zeros, but it wasn't.
"The bar manager talked to the gentleman and he said, 'No, it's $16,000,'" Zarella said. "He just said that they deserve it, they work very hard."
According to Faithwire, the New Hampshire restaurant closed for a few months due to COVID restrictions and were forced to provide take-out and outdoor dining only. The hard times that have befallen on them due to the pandemic made it challenging for the waitstaff of the Stumble Inn to make ends meet, so now they are paying it forward to the back of the house employees.
The owner added that while every tip is appreciated by the waitstaff, the very generous $16,000 tip from the good samaritan was the biggest they have received in the history of the business.
"He's kind of mysteryman," the New Hampshire restaurant bartender Michelle McCudden told NBC News. The good samaritan was reportedly not a regular and wished to remain anonymous. "I've been doing this a very long time and I never thought anything like this would happen to me."
McCudden said that the waitstaff graciously thanked the good samaritan for his very generous $16,000 tip. She admitted, "It's just been a really rough year for all of us. For someone to do something like that really restored my faith in humanity."
Elsewhere in New Hampshire, a stranger recently picked up tabs for customers at a patriotic themed diner, the Union Leader reported yesterday. Ryan's Place in Epping, New Hampshire witnessed kindness when a good samaritan "sitting alone at the counter quietly picked up the tab for every customer" in the diner and handed waitress Penny Osborne a $75 tip and inconspicuously left. His total bill came up to $175.
"It just lifted spirits everywhere," Osborne said. "Everybody that was here eating and going about their day, when I told them their meal was paid for it was amazing. It was a really good day."
