SALT LAKE CITY — A group of customers of a Mexican restaurant in Utah were satisfied with their meal and service recently and decided to reward the efforts of the staff.
"Just such a cool experience to be able to give back a little bit!" customer Steven Harward said.
"Little bit" is an understatement. Harward's group left a $10,000 tip.
A regular customer at Monarca in Salt Lake City, Harward showed up last Friday with a group of about 20 friends. At the end of the meal, he pulled ten grand out of his pocket, in $100 bills.
"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!'" Monarca 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," Brito added.
It's not the first time Harward and his friends have shown big generosity. He and his friends have been leaving $1,000 gratuities for deserving staff at restaurants in the area.
"A little over 20 times, I think is the number now that we've actually done," Harward said.
It was a gesture the staffers at the restaurant won't soon forget, and their boss is particularly grateful.
"It makes this world really a good place, you know, because we have these amazing people around," Brito said.
"To see the tears coming down our waiter's face and how he was just full of gratitude," customer Nikisha Timms said. "It was so cool. It was so cool."