’It made my Christmas’: Cornelius waitress receives $800 tip

CORNELIUS, N.C. — A waitress at a Cornelius restaurant was stunned after a group of women left her an $800 tip Monday morning.

Pam Palazzo is a waitress at the Cookhouse Restaurant in Cornelius and said a group of women sat down at a table for breakfast. She said they paid about $70 for their meal and left behind a generous gift.

Palazzo said she had never seen the women at the restaurant before.

She said, “They wanted me to take their picture, and I’m not good at taking pictures on cellphones. I was going to get somebody else to take it. They said, ‘No, we want you to take it because we have a card for you.’ I was like, ‘OK.’

She hands me a card and said, ‘We’re going to leave you a tip upfront, this is just a holiday card, there’s no money in it.’ And I was like ‘Oh, Merry Christmas,’ all of that. They paid and left.”

Palazzo said she put it in her pocket for 45 minutes. “I open it up, and I pull it out of the envelope and all this money falls out on the ground,” she said.

Palazzo said she was shocked.

Inside, the women wrote, “Wishing you a joyful holiday season and a blessed 2020, and it’s from secret Santa.”

“Altogether, when Phyllis counted it, with the $20 tip they left me, they gave me $800," Palazzo said. "It was $780 in that card. I couldn’t believe it. I have been working in this business forever. I never had anything happen to me like that.”

Phyllis Karavus is the owner of the family-run restaurant, which has been around for 17 years. Cookhouse employee Nancee Equitz said nothing like this has ever happened.

“I’m happy for her – out of all the people, yeah, she deserved it the most,” said Equitz.

Palazzo said her husband has colon and liver cancers. He works as a hotel cook so they both can pay for the treatment. She said setting aside money for Christmas hasn’t really been on their minds.

Channel 9’s Gina Esposito asked Palazzo, “Without that money, would it have been difficult?

”Palazzo answered, “Absolutely, oh yes... I already told them we may not be able to do anything this year for Christmas. My husband has got doctor bills, things like that.”

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Palazzo said the cash has already paid for presents and their Christmas tree.

“A big thank you. It made my Christmas, actually,” said Palazzo.

Palazzo hopes to personally thank the women who left the generous Christmas gift.

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