A diner who had invested in cryptocurrency gave a server at a Pennsylvania restaurant a whopping $3,000 tip on a $13 bill, according to a new report.
When out-of-town patron Eric Smith recently paid for a stromboli at Alfredo’s Cafe in Scranton, he surprised waitress Mariana Lambert with the generous gratuity, CNN reported Sunday.
“When the time came to pay his check, Lambert came into my office with tears in her eyes and shaking, stating a customer was leaving her a $3,000 tip on his $13.25 bill,” Matt Martini, a manager at the establishment, told the outlet in a statement.
The beneficiary of the customer’s largesse, who had worked at the restaurant for about two years, told a local publication that she was “touched” by the gesture.
“It really meant a lot to me because everyone’s going through stuff. It really touched my heart. I still can’t believe it. I’m still in shock,” Lambert said, according to local TV station WNEP.
She also recalled that staff initially wasn’t convinced that the gratuity — delivered on June 16 — was above board.
“We ran his card, and everything went through. We took his ID and took pictures of everything,” Lambert reportedly explained. “They waited a little bit to make sure it was legit and went through, and it ended up being real.”
Zachary Jacobson, a manager at the family-owned restaurant, told CNN that Smith was a Pennsylvania native “involved in cryptocurrency” who wanted to “give back to the community.”
The generous customer wrote “Tips for Jesus” on his receipt, in an apparent reference to the anonymous Instagram account “tipsforjesus,” which showcases unusually large gratuities left for servers at restaurants across the country, according to Jacobson.
Former PayPal executive Jack Selby has for years been suspected of driving the trend.
“I’m happy to see that people are giving back,” Jacobson said, according to the outlet. “It’s a very hard industry to be involved in, especially during Covid.”
“It’s good to know there’s still good people out there,” the manager reportedly added. “It helped her out a lot.”