Customer leaves $16,000 tip on $37 bill at New Hampshire bar

June 23 (UPI) -- Workers at a New Hampshire restaurant said they were stunned when a customer left a $16,000 tip on his $37.93 bill.

Michelle McCudden, a bartender at Stumble Inn Bar & Grill in Londonderry, said the customer, who is not a regular, had ordered a couple hot dogs, some cocktails and fried pickles before asking for his bill.

"He's kind of a mystery man," McCudden told WBTS-TV.

McCudden was shocked when she looked at the man's receipt and saw the $16,000 tip.

"It was on the credit card statement, they put it down next to the register and he said three times, 'Don't spend it all in one place.' That's what made her flip it over and look, and she's like, 'Oh my god, are you serious?' And he said, 'I want you to have it, you guys work hard,'" owner Mike Zarella told WMUR-TV.

Employees called Zarella to tell him about the unusual tip.

"I thought it was a mistake, it could have been maybe a $160 tip and he added extra zeros," Zarella said. "The bar manager talked to the gentleman and he said, 'No, it's $16,000.'"

The restaurant pools tips, so the money will be split among the eight servers on duty that night -- with some set aside for the cooks.

"We went up and we thanked him," McCudden said. "It's just been a really rough year for all of us. For someone to do something like that really restored my faith in humanity. He just said that we work really hard and he wanted to do something nice and he just really wanted us to have it."