An Irish restaurant owner in the US was delighted after a generous customer left a $3,000 (€2,520) tip.
Brendan Ring, from Cahersiveen, Co Kerry, decided to close his Nighttown bar and restaurant in Cleveland, Ohio, after daily Covid-19 cases began to surge.
Staff were preparing to close last Sunday, when the semi-regular customer left the $3,000 tip - despite spending just $7 on a pint of Stella Artois.
The customer, who wished to remain anonymous, said he wanted the tip, equivalent to €2,500, to be shared out among staff.
And staff were incredulous but delighted when they each got to take home an extra €621 that night.
In a social media post, Mr Ring wrote: “So just before we closed Nighttown, a customer walked in and ordered a beer and asked for the check and handed his credit card slip to me, wished me well while we sit out our voluntary shutdown, and told me to share the tip amongst the wait staff of which there were four working brunch.
“As he walked out I looked down at the tip and realized he left a whopping $3000 tip on a single beer purchase.
“I ran after him and he said ‘no mistake - we will see you when you reopen!”
Mr Ring said: “Unbelievable but symbolic of the kind of quality folks we have known at Nighttown all these years.
“I could post his name but I won’t as I think he wouldn’t want that but all my waitstaff and myself are humbly grateful for this incredibly kind and grand gesture.”
One of the waitresses thought he was joking because he frequently plays jokes on his staff.
Mr Ring told US broadcaster CNN: “She said ‘Yeah right, you did that’. Then the next server I showed it to, she started crying, she knew it was legit.”
The customer’s generosity had an “uplifting” effect given that it happened during the pandemic, the Kerry native said.
He told CNN: “We’re all so desperate for uplifting news, if this was a normal year, this would be a good story, but it’s a great story because of the year we’re in.”
Mr Ring added: “The outpouring of love for this story has been universal.”
