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'She Was Very Hurt': Cafe Owner Speaks Out After Bilingual Waitress Gets 'Don't Tip Immigrants' Note On Bill

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BORDENTOWN, N.J. (CBS) -- A message with just three words written on a restaurant bill is sparking a lot of outrage in South Jersey. A bilingual waitress at the Under the Moon cafe says a customer returned a bill that said, "Don't Tip Immigrants."

Many people in Bordentown and beyond say they came to eat at the cafe to support the business after the note came to light.

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The phone has also been ringing off the hook all day with people calling to tell the owner they support him, while others said they don't believe the story.

I apologize in advance for what may be a lengthy post. Thursday night we had a couple come in to dine at our restaurant,...

Posted by Under The Moon Cafe on Saturday, January 26, 2019

"I would tell them to be more accepting, more open-minded, to open your heart, to expect kindness, not hate," said Santiago Orosco, owner of the Under the Moon cafe.

Orosco wants a couple to take that message to heart after, he says, they wrote a hateful note to his waitress last week.

"It said, 'Don't Tip Immigrants,' and, of course, there was no tip," said Orosco. "Which is not the point, obviously, but she was very hurt."

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Lorena Bossi was getting off her shift Thursday night when she discovered the note on the back of a bill.

"The only reason they could have known she was Spanish was because she thanked another employee who was helping her," explained Orosco. "That's the only way they knew she was Spanish."

Bossi wasn't available for an interview Monday. She called out of work sick, but she wrote in a Facebook post, "I didn't post this to get anything out of it other than awareness. I was deeply saddened by the whole situation and hope this will shed some light on the racism we deal with in this country on a daily basis."

Under the Moon doesn't have any security cameras. Eyewitness News asked if there was anyway a waitress or some other employee could have written that note. The owner replied: "No, no not at all. Not at all. Especially her. This couldn't have happened to a nicer person."

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