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Last Friday, Steven Harward, a regular at Monarca, a Mexican restaurant in Salt Lake City, visited the restaurant with about 20 friends and left a generous $10-thousand tip in crisp $100 bills. The act left a lasting impression on the restaurant's employees and owner, Alfoso Brito.
When he started in the restaurant business, Brito says he only had $20 to his name, so he was especially moved by the gesture. The Monarca staff were visibly emotional upon receiving the tip, as was customer Nikisha Timms who witnessed the act of kindness. "To see the tears coming down our waiter's face and how he was just full of gratitude, it was so cool,” Timms recalls.
This wasn’t the first time Harward and his friends left an oversized tip. On more than 20 occasions they've left $1,000 tips at various local restaurants. Brito says the generous tip highlights the impact a simple act of kindness can have on a community. "It makes this world really a good place,” he says, “Because we have these amazing people around."