Customers Settle Restaurant Bills Left During Boston Bombings: "I Was Speechless...There Are So Many Good People Out There," Says Boston Bar Owner
Diners who had to evacuate restaurants and leave their tabs unpaid during the Boston Marathon bombings are making good on the bills. Across the country, people have called Boston restaurants they hastily abandoned during the deadly Marathon bombings to pay their checks.
"They all said, 'Listen, we were there, having a good time, and we want to pay our tab," Tony Castagnozzi, owner of the Rattlesnake Bar in Boylston Street, said.
"I was speechless. ... You see there are so many good people out there. It makes you feel good."
The first call was a man from Denver with a $91 tab. Now, diners across the country - from Florida to Massachusetts itself - have called in.
Diners have left big tips, too. This is important for servers who were shocked from the attack, but also left without any money on what is normally the busiest day of the year.
"They didn't expect anything," Castagnozzi, who has owned the bar for 23 years, told press. "Marathon day is our busiest day of the year. And they work hard. So they were pleasantly surprised."
"It's the right thing to do, isn't it? At least in my mind it is," said David Christmas, a runner who was having a few beers with friends and family in the bar when the bombs exploded. He sent the Rattlesnake Bar $50 to cover his $35 tab.
Castagnozzi said he's received several calls since the deadly April 15th terror attacks on Boston. He estimates patrons left about $3,000 in unpaid tabs open when police evacuated the bar after the bombing. Now, he's gotten about $1,200 back from honest customers who want to support him.
Nearby at the Charlesmark Hotel, police seized credit cards and the computer system zeroed itself out, so they have no record of exactly how much was owed.
"When they took them, they also took all of the cellphones, all of the cameras and everything that was lying around," the operating partner Mark Hagopian said. "The FBI actually called all the numbers on the backs of the credit cards and canceled them."
Still, he says, many customers have called to settle up. And at nearby Vlora, they are even doing better since the Marathon, although many customers that day have yet to call.
"We're all set," Aldo Velaj, Vlora chef and owner, told press. "We've gotten so much business because of the support, that we've made our money back. We're getting extra business because of people coming to Boylston Street."
The president of the Back Bay Association, Meg Mainzer-Cohen, said, "I just think it further demonstrates how the community came together to support businesses and the victims of this incident. It just further demonstrates what a great city we live in."