A customer left a $200 tip to every employee at Notchtop Bakery & Café in Estes Park in Colorado, because ‘COVID sucks’.
On January 20, seven members of the restaurant staff received the kind donation. The customer, known only as David, left the $1,400 tip on top of his $20 meal with a note: ‘COVID sucks! $200 for each employee today!’
“Thank you, David, for your generous gift to our staff. Your gift has touched many lives,” the restaurant page posted on Facebook.
Nailya Khametvalieva, the restaurant’s owner, said the gift brought tears to everyone’s eyes after the struggles the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has caused for so many businesses.
“That brought truly tears to all the servers [and] cooks, you know, nobody ever thinks of cooks. The cooks were just so surprised and shocked. We were all shocked,” Khametvalieva told CNN. “We did thank him, but I felt like we didn’t do it enough.”
Although David lives in the area, Khametvalieva said this was only the second time he had ever been to the café.
Khametvalieva has run the Notchtop Bakery & Café for almost a decade. She said that even though she was not forced to close her doors throughout the pandemic, the business has been incredibly tough, with last year’s wildfires also adding to the struggles.
“I wanted to thank everybody who actually feels for small businesses and people have been so grateful and kind and nice. They have a big heart, especially David,” Khametvalieva said.