When a waiter at Buddy Freddy’s restaurant sat three customers for an early Sunday dinner June 9, all she could hope for was a 20% tip. What she got, along with seven other waiters, was a $50 tip.
The generosity of a woman, who looked strikingly similar to Zephyrhills Powerball winner Gloria C. MacKenzie, didn’t stop with just the staff.
She also paid the tabs for the 185 customers dining in the restaurant at the time. The amount totaled about $2,600.
When employees asked if she was the 84-year-old, $590.5 million winner, she denied it.
“She was just a good-hearted woman with a large wallet,” Manager Stephanie Reaves said.
The woman came in around 4 p.m. with another woman, both appearing in their 70s, and a younger man in his 50s, Reaves said. They sat at the north end of the restaurant.
“It looked like her, but it wasn’t,” Reaves said. “She was a little bit younger.”
After paying the $43.26 tab, the woman left, only to return minutes later. She realized she didn’t tip the staff. And she wanted to buy dinner for the entire restaurant in cash.
“She didn’t do a lot of talking,” Reaves said. “She just wanted to let everybody know she had never been in the company of such nice people. She must not have been from around here.”
The mystery woman stood in the front foyer as staff gathered up checks from tables and informed their customers that their tab was being paid. Several patrons went to the foyer to hug and thank her. Others stood and applauded the generous gesture.
“I’ve been here 24 years, and I have never seen that,” Reaves said. “People have said, ‘Let me get the table next to me,’ but never the whole restaurant.”
Since then, Buddy Freddy’s has been gaining national media attention. Reaves said even “Good Morning America” was slated to come by last week.
“We really hope she gets a chance to see it on TV and how much we appreciate it,” Reaves said. “Who does that? That ain’t happening. We really appreciate it.”