AURORA, Ohio — At a Northeast Ohio pizza shop, people were enjoying a Friday night out with friends and family when they got a big surprise.
"We came in to have a quick meal with my family and my three children. No one complains about a dinner at Lee Angelo's," said Kate Fuller, Aurora.
Good pizza and good service is no surprise to Fuller and her family. But the large random act of kindness everyone in the restaurant received certainly was.
"Done with our meal, we asked for our check, and someone came over and told us that our meal had been paid for," said Fuller.
Fuller continued, "That doesn't just happen, you know, that just doesn't happen. That's never happened to me. I love it."
Head server Brianna Hepler just happened to be serving the family who paid for it all.
"It was a wife, a husband and a kid they offered to pay for somebody's food, so I got them their check, and then they wanted to pick up everybody else's check, which I thought was amazing," said Hepler, server and manager at Lee Angelo's Aurora.
Picking up all that food, Hepler said the generous family racked up a bill close to $1,000.
"It was a lot of money it was so sweet. I was like in shock too," said Hepler.
"My husband and I both felt grateful that someone would do that for us," said Fuller.
The family left Hepler and her fellow servers a $300 tip. Hepler said, "We all shared the tip, too. It was great."
That generous family wants to remain anonymous. But kindness inside that pizza shop makes sense. Lee Angelo's already has a reputation for giving back to the community.
"The little birdie told me, just word on the street, we do so much for the community, that individual just wanted to pay us back for what we do community often, he wanted to do something kind for us, and I really appreciate that," said owner Angelo Gonzales.
Gonzales said he's proud of the atmosphere he's fostered inside and outside his restaurants.
"We fed 7,000 kids over Covid free of charge, out of our Akron location," said Gonzales.
"It drove home our motto of community above competition and why we're driven by gratitude to have that experience," said Gonzales.
Gonzales plans to live his restaurant's motto and take that kindness and pass it on.
"I am going to try to meet and exceed that, so hopefully, we can start something within the community about paying it forward," said Gonzales.
