Servers receive ‘tip of a lifetime’ at MS Coast restaurant. Here’s what they were given
Santa’s elves struck again this holiday season in South Mississippi.
Once again, a group of friends and business associates in Biloxi, Ocean Springs and across the Coast played Santa’s elves, spreading holiday cheer and surprising their servers with the tip of a lifetime.
About 25 people gathered Wednesday morning at Brew Paddle Cafe on Howard Avenue in Biloxi, chatting over coffee, cinnamon rolls and breakfast fare.
At the end of breakfast, they handed over a stack of cash to their two servers, as each person added $100 to the tip.
Although some in the group couldn’t make it to breakfast this year, they sent along their Ben Franklin to boost the total to $3,700.
This is the fourth year the group has gathered for a surprise Christmas tip and each time the servers said they never received a tip anywhere near this size.
What a day
“I absolutely will always remember this,” said Jen Hudson, one of the two servers who received the huge tip.
Hudson and C.J. Lai had no idea the group planned to make them this year’s recipients of the holiday tip, said Brew Paddle Cafe co-owner Rachel Plauche. Several of the “Christmas elves,” as the group loosely calls themselves, are regulars at the restaurant.
Plauche said she’s grateful the group chose to treat her staff. “They’re really special to us,” she said.
Lai didn’t know what was happening and was so surprised, Plauche said.
Hudson said she is a server and a freelance photographer who depends on tips and the public to get a paycheck.
“It’s quite a blessing,” she said of the tip that will allow her to catch up on bills.
What the group does in the community really helps those in the restaurant business, she said.
“Now I can buy some Christmas presents for my family,” she said, something she didn’t think she’d be able to do this year.
Glad tidings
The stories of the Christmas elves’ generosity has inspired others in South Mississippi to comment on social media that they plan to up their tips during the holiday season.
The restaurant business tends to drop this time of year, Plauche said. “Everybody’s got a lot of bills and it’s the holiday season. Things like that are a big gift.”
It all started in 2021, when restaurants and wait staff were still trying to regroup after the pandemic. About 20 Coast friends got together for breakfast at Phoenicia Gourmet Restaurant in Ocean Springs. Instead of the standard 20% tip, they gave $100 apiece to tip their waitress.
The next year brought close to 30 friends together for their Christmas breakfast at Port City Cafe in Biloxi. Two waitresses — who dared hope for a $100 tip for serving the table of 30 people — instead shared about $3,000.
In 2023, Two waiters at Lazy Oak Restaurant in Ocean Springs were surprised with a $3,500 tip by the group. It was a special help and affirmation for one of the servers, who was just starting her PhD program while continuing to work full time at the restaurant.
Others used their big tip to pay bills and buy Christmas gifts for their kids.
