The guest, who asked the restaurant to allow him to remain anonymous, dined at Souk Mediterranean Kitchen in Toledo on December 12, when he left the massive council for all 28 employees – including those who were away that day. After the split, each staff member took home $ 200.
“There were a lot of tears, now I’m tearing up talking about it,” Moussa Salloukh, Souk’s owner and cook, told CNN. “Your restaurant staff becomes your family and everyone cares about each other. We sat outside the kitchen to give employees hours to pass by and put presents under the tree for their children, so it was so great for us. ”
Several employees who could not afford a Christmas tree or gifts for their family due to the pandemic told Salloukh that advice was the only thing that “made this possible.”
“Many of them felt that someone was watching and following them. It gave us a lot of hope, it was just a nice thing to do for 28 foreigners you don’t even know,” Salloukh said.
Salloukh opened his restaurant in October 2019 and, like many other business owners, is struggling to keep it alive because of the coronavirus pandemic.
But now, as the restaurant gets underway, Salloukh says the kind gesture is a “reminder” that, despite obstacles and struggles, everything will be fine.
“The restaurant was a tribute to my mother and everything was going great until March, when we had to close,” he added. “Financially there was a huge impact, but we did almost everything to survive. Then, all of a sudden, this gentleman comes and gives us $ 5,600 advice for all our employees.” Thanks “it’s not enough.”