Man leaves $3,000 tip on $7 bill ahead of club’s COVID-19 closure, Ohio owner says

A patron at an Ohio club ordered a beer then left a jaw-dropping tip for the waitstaff — $3,000.

Brandon Ring owns Nighttown, a jazz club in Cleveland, and announced last week that he’d be temporarily closing its doors because of an uptick in area COVID-19 cases.

“We will miss you, stay healthy and hope to see everyone on the other side of this,” Ring said in the announcement.

Nighttown closed Sunday after brunch, but not before a kindly patron could leave an incredible gift.

Just before closing, a man walked into the club and ordered a beer, Ring said in a Facebook post. After asking for the bill, the man handed Ring his credit card.

Ring said the man “wished me well while we sit out our voluntary shutdown and told me to share the tip [among] the wait staff.” There were four working the brunch shift.

As the man left, Ring looked down at the bill and found something unexpected — “3000” written on the tip line, he said. The bill was only $7.

Ring chased down the man who told him the tip wasn’t a mistake, adding that he’d see them all again once Nighttown reopened.

Ring called the gesture “unbelievable but symbolic of the kind of quality folks we have know at Nighttown all these years,” adding that he and the waitstaff were “humbly grateful for this incredibly kind and grand gesture.”

Coronavirus cases have been surging in Cleveland, with the city adding 368 new cases on Sunday, according to data from the city’s health department. Cleveland has logged 9,731 cases since the onset of the pandemic.

This story was originally published November 23, 2020 at 11:20 AM with the headline "Man leaves $3,000 tip on $7 bill ahead of club’s COVID-19 closure, Ohio owner says."