Customers Pay it Forward at Mark's Café

This past Sunday something amazing happened at Mark’s Café, a local mom and pop restaurant in Tempe.

Two ladies had just finished their meal, and quietly called Mark’s Café owner Karen Vojtek over to their table. They asked if they could pay the bill for another couple sitting just a few feet away.

The unknowing regulars received their “tab” just a short time later, and Karen shared with them that it had already been paid for. Grateful, they decided they wanted to pay someone else’s bill. So they did…and the chain reaction began. It happened over and over. Customers who didn’t know each other at all, all anonymously paid each others bills and it went on for hours. Mark’s total table count at the end of the day was around fifteen tables, all whom had paid for each others meals.

Coming up on the 2 year anniversary of their extreme community makeover, Mark’s Café is a locally owned cafe who is well-known for both giving back to the community and who has also been on the receiving end when local businesses teamed together and donated the time and materials to modernize the cafe, including changing its name, branding, the interior, exterior, etc.

The community’s successful makeover in May of 2011 continues to bring the cafe new breaths of life including Mark’s largest record-setting day which just happened on March 25, 2013 and has brought a very heavy meaning of giving to others in need.

Photo below is table #10 in the “Pay it Forward” succession.They received a meal and gave a meal.