‘Just wanted to apologize’: Americans pick up the tab for everyone at Canadian restaurant

Toast seen in Windsor, Ont. on Feb. 24, 2025. (Michelle Maluske/CTV News Windsor)

Many people enjoyed a free breakfast on Saturday at Windsor, Ont.‘s restaurant, Toast, as an unknown American couple paid for everyone’s bill. The gesture acted as an apology for the rift between Canada and the U.S.

Windsorite Susan Taylor was at Toast, ready to pay for her breakfast when she was told the bill had been covered.

“The waitress made an announcement in the restaurant that this lovely couple in the corner is paying for everyone who is in the restaurant at the time for breakfast,” Taylor told AM800’s Mornings with Mike and Meg.

“It was packed, as it usually is in there on a Saturday.”

Taylor estimates there were between 40 to 60 people in the Erie Street restaurant at the time.

“She (the donor) said that she was American, and she just wanted to apologize,” said Taylor.

“She said she knows that their president has caused a rift in what was happening between our countries, and she wanted us to know that not all Americans are bad people.”

Taylor added the woman congratulated Canada on its win Thursday over the U.S. in the 4 Nations Face-Off in men’s hockey.

Nestor Chyz posted in a local community group on social media, identifying the generous Americans as Bill and Sara from Ann Arbor, Mich.

Another patron, Aileen Ganley, wrote the Americans also said in the restaurant “please know that not everyone in America likes Trump”, before apologizing for what he’s doing to Canada.

“(It) of course led to loud cheers from everybody that was sitting down,” Taylor told Am800 News.

CTV News reached out to the restaurant for comment, but it is closed on Mondays.

The full interview with Taylor can be heard here.