Maryland waitress gets $2K tip ahead of county’s COVID-19 restaurant closures

A waitress in Annapolis, Md., received an unexpected $2,020 tip on a bill totaling $33.92 on Saturday, ahead of the restaurant’s scheduled closure.

Lauren Jewel, an employee at Evelyn’s Place, received the tip from a regular, who wrote “Good luck! Stay well!” on the slip.

The restaurant is located in Anne Arundel County, which is limiting restaurants to only providing curbside or takeout service for four weeks beginning Wednesday.

“There are people out there that are matching the check but our tips are higher than our sales sometimes,” Jewel told The Capital Gazette. “It has been astounding. It showed me how selfless this community is.”

Jewel added that news of another shutdown was hard to swallow.

“It was a shock, we just didn’t know how to react to it. This is already an unsecured job being in this industry, so it makes you question if this what you want to do with your life,” she said.

The Washington Post reports that Jewel split the tip with her manager Jennifer Zoller.

“It has been so amazing how generous people have been,” Zoller told the Post. “I’m sure they have their own hardships within their families and they still are doing that for us.”