'Covid Bandit' Leaves $1,400 Tip For Staff At Restaurant

January 25, 2021

A customer at a Colorado restaurant left a $1,400 tip and a message that said "COVID Sucks!".

Notchtop Bakery & Cafe

Notchtop Bakery & Cafe owner Nailya Khametvalieva says the customer came into the restaurant on Wednesday for breakfast. When he received the bill, he asked the waitress how many people were working that day.

He ended up leaving the $1,400 tip with instructions to give each of the seven employees $200.

"That brought truly tears to all the servers [and] cooks -- you know, nobody ever thinks of cooks -- the cooks were just so surprised and shocked. We were all shocked," Khametvalieva told KMGH. "We did thank him, but I felt like we didn't do it enough."

According to the staff, the customer has only been to Notchtop Bakery & Cafe one time before this incident.

Khametvalieva posted a photo of the grateful staff on the restaurant's Facebook page and said "Thank you 'Covid Bandit' for you generous gift to our staff. You gift has touched many lives."