Customer leaves Texas restaurant $1,300 tip to offer support after coronavirus lockdown

Customer asked to be charged double for everything he ordered

(Getty Images/iStockphoto)

A restaurant in Texas was left dumbstruck on Friday after a customer left a tip of $1,300 (£1,044) on its first day reopening after the coronavirus outbreak.

An anonymous man, who had been to restaurant before, visited the Frog & The Bulll in Austin alongside his family and ordered ordered a fillet mignon, scallops, and grilled steak alongside other items.

According to waiter, 18-year-old Josh Pikoff, the man asked to be charged double for everything he ordered, despite the bill already coming up to $337 (£270).

After paying double what he owed, the customer than added an additional $300 (£241) tip for Mr Pikoff and an additional $1,000 (£803) “for the house”.

Mr Pikoff was so shocked by the gesture that he sought the help of the restaurant’s owner, David Fernandez.

“He said charge me double for everything and I asked, ‘Are you sure?’” Mr Fernandez recalled to CNN. “He said, ‘yes.’”

“I didn’t really know what to say,” Fernandez added. “It was extremely generous and I was just so wowed by it.

Mr Pikoff said he was “really shocked” by the customer’s gesture.

“But he said that he was extremely grateful that we were open and putting ourselves at risk to serve the community,” he added.

Texas’ stay-at-home order was lifted on Friday, and Mr Fernandez explained that his restaurant is well-equipped to remain open while abiding by social distancing measures.

“We were well prepared to deal with all the advisories,” he said. “For example, we can only seat 25 per cent max capacity, so we have a very strict seating scheme that’s timed out to keep people safe.”