(Photo: Courtesy of Spirts on Bourbon)
Mardi Gras ended a little more than a month ago and with hardly any excitement whatsoever due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which was a detriment to service industry workers in the French Quarter, and especially the bars on Bourbon Street, which were ordered closed through the holiday weekend to, you know, prevent spread of COVID-19.
The weekslong celebrated holiday is typically an opportunity for industry folks to earn money from tips and wages, but both of those were virtually nonexistent because of the coronavirus business restrictions that heavily reduced sales and also kept bars and restaurants from also earning revenue.
But for some French Quarter industry folks, there was an occasional life raft.
For the second time, a patron came in and dropped a $3,000 tip for the staff at Spirits on Bourbon, located at 615 Bourbon St. This time, it was on a tab of only $141.50.
The patron came and tipped the bartender $3,000 in July, also.
Smith was reluctant to identify the patron, citing privacy concerns, but added that it was a man from out of state and runs his own company, but didn’t identify the industry.
“There really are some great people in this world,” co-owner Steve Smith wrote on social media. “You may remember we had a Good Samaritan leave our bartender a $3,000 tip in the beginning of the pandemic. Well, he came back and did it again and gave another server $3k! We are very proud of and happy for our staff.”