Workers at a downtown Salt Lake City Mexican restaurant received a $10,000 tip from a group of customers.
KSL News posted a video from the Friday night surprise to YouTube.
Monarca restaurant owner Alfonso Brito said, “When we moved to America we had nothing to our names.”
“We had $20 in our pocket, and we started working in the restaurant business as dishwashers,” he added.
For years, Brito and his wife worked in the business and then opened their own restaurant in 2021.
Brito said a group of about 20 regulars visited Friday night. He noted, “They were about to leave, they said, ‘Hey, Alfonso, can you come with your crew? We want to thank you because we have a great time.’ And I said, ‘Of course!’”
The video footage shows one of the members of the party gathering staff to their table and announcing that they were tipping the restaurant $10,000.
Cheers and applause filled the restaurant.
Brito said, “He just pulled out of his pocket $10,000 in 100s.”
One of the group members, Steven Howard, later stated, “Just such a cool experience to be able to give back a little bit!”
He and his friends have reportedly been tipping restaurant workers $1,000 regularly.
Howard said they have done this about 20 times now.
Then they decided to pool their money together to offer Monarca workers the larger sum.
“To see the tears coming down our waiter’s face and how he was just full of gratitude… it was so cool, ” group member Nikisha Timms said.
Sunny Skyz noted Brito posted about the tip on Facebook stating, “At Monarca, we wanted to take a moment to express our deepest gratitude for the incredibly generous gesture to our staff.”
He said, “An act of kindness goes far beyond what words can express. The impact of the generosity extends not only to our staff but also to their families and our entire community.”
“Your extraordinary act of generosity will forever be etched in our memories. We are truly blessed to have people like you in our community. Con todo el Corazón. Las Familias de Monarca,” he concluded.
