Staff at the Masala Mantra Indian Bistro in Cape Coral, Florida, were stunned after a customer left a tip of US$2020 (A$2600) to one of its on-duty waiters.
Highlights:
- On 1 January 2021, a customer left a symbolic tip of $2020 to one of the waiters.
- Masala Mantra Indian Bistro is the first Indian restaurant in Cape Coral, Florida.
- The owner said 2020 has been awful for the tourism and hospitality industry.
Listen to the story from the owner of the restaurant:
LISTEN TO
Tip of the year: Customer leaves symbolic $2020 tip at lockdown-hit US restaurant
SBS Hindi
08/01/202105:26
In a Facebook post, the restaurant expressed gratitude to the "kind patron" for the generous tip and kindness.
"$2020 tip by a kind patron for our excellent server Dawn. We can't stop smiling and feeling happy for Dawn. God bless this group of kind folks," the post said.
"This year has been hard for every restaurant, including ours, but this act of kindness made our year. We are grateful for all our patrons' support - in this difficult year they bought a lot of cheers and light to our little server community - May the good Lord bless us all in the new year, and it's a new Dawn for all of us Goodbye 2020 and welcome 2021."
The post has since gone viral on social media, and the news has been covered by local media outlets.
Source: facebook.com/IndianBistroMasalaMantra
Restaurant owner Sudev Valavil says at first no one believed the tip was real.
"The girl who received the tip approached me and told me about it. I went to the customer to check if he had not made a mistake. He said it was correct," Mr Valavil told SBS Hindi.
He adds that the community has been very supportive of local businesses in the town.
"People are very supportive. This is not the first time a customer left a big tip. People have left US$30 to $300 tips earlier too," Mr Valavil said.
He opened the establishment, the first Indian restaurant in Cape Coral, in November 2019, months before the pandemic took hold.
"And COVID came in February 2020, so we had to close the restaurant. We opened for four hours a day for the take out but the sales we down by almost 60 per cent," Mr Valavil shares.
The year 2020 has taken a huge toll on the tourism and hospitality sectors around the world. According to a report, about 17 per cent of America's restaurants permanently closed in 2020.
Australian restaurant chains also closed due to the pandemic, including BBQ King, The Boathouse on Blackwattle Bay and Sizzler in Sydney, Arc Dining in Brisbane, Shark Fin House and Gertrude Street Enoteca in Melbourne and Restaurant Orana in Adelaide.
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