Boston Marathon participants left behind their restaurant checks when the gruesome bombings forced them to evacuate.
Restaurant owners were left with thousands of dollars worth of unpaid tabs and were unsure as to how they would pay for the bills.
Tony Castagnozzi, owner of the Rattlesnake Bar for 23 years, told the Boston Herald he has received many calls from customers since the attack.
"They all said, 'Listen, we were there, having a good time, and we want to pay our tab,'" Castagnozzi said. "I was speechless. ... You see there are so many good people out there. It makes you feel good."
Castagnozzi said his customers were left more than $3,000 in unpaid tabs when police officers evacuated his restaurant after the bombings. Since the terror attack on April 15 that killed three people and injured around 260, he's received nearly a dozen letters and calls from customers have paid their bills. According to the Herald, Castagnozzi estimates the bar has recouped about $1,200.
"It's the right thing to do, isn't it? At least in my mind it is," said David Christmas, a marathon participant.
He sent in $50 to cover his $35 bar tab and a tip.
Some customers who were evacuated from the Charlesmark Hotel also have since settled up their tabs, including a liquor company that was sponsoring a marathon party, according to operating partner Mark Hagopian.
Reportedly, the hotel lost all record of running tabs when FBI officials seized abandoned credit cards.
"When they took them, they also took all of the cellphones, all of the cameras and everything that was lying around," Hagopian told the Herald. "The FBI actually called all the numbers on the backs of the credit cards and canceled them."
Castagnozzi said diners who have paid their tabs have also insisted on adding tips for the waitresses who missed out on their biggest payday of the year.
"They didn't expect anything," Castagnozzi said of his wait staff. "Marathon day is our busiest day of the year. And they work hard. So they were pleasantly surprised."
