![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/bf043f94295e3f595fb33f20eb2e5e19c3-h-16359089.rsquare.w700.jpg\")
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\n New York subscribers got exclusive early access to this story in\u00a0Eating New York<\/strong>, a newsletter featuring food news and advice straight from our critics\u2019 mouths. Sign up here<\/strong><\/a> to get it in your inbox.\n <\/p>\n \n Photo: Janice Chung\/The New York Times\/Redux\n <\/p>\n As the free-market evangelist Milton Friedman famously noted in his 1975 book of the same name, there\u2019s no such thing as a free lunch. At the time he was agreeing with generations of saloon keepers and skeptics who perhaps shrewdly saw danger in each offer of help. But help is exactly the point of Paga Lo Que Puedas (Pay What You Can Day)<\/a>, which takes place this year on August 26 and will include a handful of New York restaurants. The idea is as simple as it is radical: Customers pay what they can. Same menu. Same portions. Same service. No bill.<\/p>\n The tradition started, as per its co-founder Saqib Keval of Mexico City\u2019s Michelin-starred Masala y Ma\u00edz<\/a>, during the pandemic. Keval and his partner, Norma Listman, were struggling. Their community was struggling. The duo decided to offer their menu every few months at whatever price each customer could afford. \u201cWe had nothing to lose,\u201d he explained. \u201cEverything was going to shit.\u201d The response was immediate. Contrary to their fears, most of the diners paid full price, some paid more than the listed amount, and a few paid less. \u201cWe very specifically called it \u2018Pay What You Can,\u2019\u201d said Keval, \u201cNot \u2018Pay What You Want.\u2019\u201d What Keval and Listman discovered was that the experience was enriching, both financially and emotionally. \u201cIt was always our favorite day because it brought in a good mix of people,\u201d he said. \u201cWe could allow ourselves not to be stressed about the numbers of the day that normally defines restaurant operations. It was cooking for the love of the game.\u201d<\/p>\n Last year the day spread throughout Mexico and this year, it has gone worldwide. Over 100 restaurants in 15 countries are participating. \u201cIt\u2019s been really impressive that the vast majority of the restaurants that signed up are smaller, mom-and-pop operations,\u201d explained Keval, \u201cthe restaurants with the tightest margins, the most at risk and the least amount of emergency funds or safety net.\u201d In New York, that number includes Kabawa<\/a>, HAGS<\/a>, Hellbender<\/a> and Vato<\/a>.<\/p>\n The day was an easy sell for Kabawa\u2019s Paul Carmichael<\/a>, where the starting price for the restaurant\u2019s prix fixe is typically $150. \u201cAs a Caribbean restaurant,\u201d he told me, \u201cit has always been important for me to be accessible. That\u2019s why the bar and the restaurant exist in the fashions they do.\u201d Pay What You Can Day, explained Carmichael, represents a radically more affordable opportunity: \u201cIt\u2019s going to be nice to have people in that would never come or would not be able to afford to come.\u201d For Hellbender\u2019s owner, Yara Herrera, Pay What You Can Day is a way to reconnect with what got her into cooking in the first place. \u201cOne of the reasons I left fine dining,\u201d she explained, \u201cwas because my parents would never come to eat here, not only because they can\u2019t afford it but because they wouldn\u2019t feel comfortable.\u201d And the same could be said for Fidel Caballero of Vato. \u201cWhen I was younger, I worked at a pay-what-you-can caf\u00e9 in El Paso called the Mustard Seed Cafe<\/a>,\u201d he recalled, \u201cI got to see what food could do to the community. This brings me right back to that moment.\u201d<\/p>\n A day of lost income is often enough to seriously impact a restaurant, but according to Keval, that risk is necessary. \u201cSome people are shit, some people are amazing,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s about us believing in the best in people and the people believing the best in us.\u201d<\/p>\n Sign up for Eating New York<\/p>\n Weekly food news, straight from our critics\u2019 mouths and just for subscribers.<\/p>\n Vox Media, LLC Terms and Privacy Notice<\/p>\n
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