A couple were moved to tears over the generosity of Pizza Express staff after they left a touching message on their receipt.
Geoff Munns, 65, a hospital chef took his wife Carol, 61, out for a "well-earned date" after working through Christmas, the Liverpool Echo reports.
He had worked Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Eve at Arrowe Park Hospital.
The branch in New Brighton, Wirral, said it wanted to treat the couple and paid for their entire bill.
The bill read: "Since you spent your Christmas feeding others at the hospital, tonight we wanted to treat you. Nikki, Michelle and the team x."
Mr Munns, from Bebington, Wirral, said: "In all my years, I've never had anything done like that before.
"The timing of it was absolutely perfect."
They visited the restaurant after Mr Munns had finished his shift and before they went to the cinema.
As they were being served, they became involved in a conversation about working in the food industry with the person serving them.
Read more of today's top stories
The Pizza Express worker told the couple it was going to be a busy night as there were large parties of people booked in to celebrate the end of the year.
"I said: 'I know what that's like", Mr Munns said. "And I told them I was working Christmas Day and Boxing Day and I said I know what it's like to make a lot of meals.
"I said I'd made about 500 breakfasts on Christmas Day. We were just making chit chat with each other."
He said: "Carol had a couple of tears coming out, but it was happy tears to think that someone could actually be that generous.
"I would like to say thank you to them and say how happy we were."
Replying to a tweet about the gesture, Pizza Express said: "Aww, that's brilliant to hear and well deserved.
"We hope he has a nice rest now."
Follow us on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news. We are also on Instagram .
If you are on the go, the M.E.N. app helps bring you closer to the latest news where you live. Available on iPhone and Android , the app can be tailor made to bring you the latest on what matters to you.
Breaking news, the latest on your football club, the pick of the week’s events and the latest travel - you can tailor the app to suit you. Our push notifications help highlight the biggest stories to you first.