Shaquille O’Neal surprises customers at Houston restaurant by paying for their meals on Christmas Eve

Shaquille O’Neal is known for a few different things, most notably his legendary NBA career. In his post-NBA life, Shaq is also known for his random acts of kindness.

The latest example came on Christmas Eve, when O’Neal spread some holiday cheer by paying for meals at a Houston deli and restaurant. In a post shared to Facebook earlier in December, Kenny and Ziggy’s New York Delicatessen explained the encounter.

“Our friend Shaq paid us a visit today. This was his first time at the new store, and loved it!” reads the post, which also includes a selfie of O’Neal with one of the restaurant’s employees. “He is such a Men[s]ch – he bought everybody’s meal in The Schmooze Room! What a great guy.” 

There are no details on how many meals he paid for, but the restaurant’s website describes the Schmooze Room as a large private room used for functions and meetings that can hold up to 75 guests.

The comments on the post included several anecdotes of people who have met him in real life. He was described as “generous,” “friendly,” “funny” and of course, “tall.”

There are plenty of known instances about random acts of kindness done by O’Neal, like this one from 2021 about him purchasing an engagement ring for someone he met that was shopping for one in a jewelry store. O’Neal has said in multiple interviews that he doesn’t do any of it for attention and instead tries to do a good deed every time he leaves the house.

The 7-foot-1 star played in the NBA from 1992 until 2011. Through his career, he earned four NBA championship rings and was a 14-time All-Star, among a long list of other accomplishments. O’Neal had his No. 34 jersey retired by the Lakers, No. 32 retired by the Miami Heat, and No. 33 by the LSU Tigers — his alma mater.