The Unusual Calculation Behind This $1,840 Tip

Raffaele Sanchez-Anuziato, a waiter at Lake George Beach Club in New York, came over to collect a guest's payment. Besides the fact that the customer had asked the waiter how he would rate the Paesan's Pizza, a brand of frozen pizza the Lake George Beach Club sells and recorded his answer, it had been a normal affair. "If we're going strictly off of like frozen pizza, I'm giving it like an 8.4, I'd say," said Sanchez-Anuziato, according to a clip shared by News 10.

Upon receiving the payment for the meal, he discovered that the patron had given a tip worth $1,840. The guest revealed himself to be Frank Scavio, the owner of Paesan's Pizza. The $840 was for Raffaela Sanchez-Anuziato, reflecting the 8.4 he gave the pizza. The rest of the tip was for the restaurant. "The industry is hard, it's a young man's game and you're on your feet all day long," Scavio explained. "It's a tough one." 

Watching News 10's report, it is impossible not to note the staging of the feel good story. Of course, that does not diminish the actual impact the money can make in the pandemic-stricken industry. Still, it should not be surprising that such an enterprising business owner had made headlines previously. In April 2020, News 10 covered the fact that Scavio was waiting for his pizza to be reviewed by Dave Portnoy, the founder of Barstool Sports. Portnoy's pizza reviews are a staple of the website and he reportedly has the power to make or break a brand.

When the pandemic hit, however, Portnoy had to restrain his reviews to the confines of his home, the address of which quickly leaked. Scavio was one of the first to send his pizzas over. "Every day, me and my kids, we go downstairs and we watch, and we hope," Scavio admitted. Feeling the pressure of a family's dreams, Portnoy did review the pizza, giving it a 7.1 and the comment that it did not taste like frozen pizza. If nothing else, Scavio is good at getting his food out there.