{"id":412299,"date":"2026-07-25T21:18:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T21:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/412299\/"},"modified":"2026-07-25T21:18:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T21:18:08","slug":"good-taste-mark-your-calendar-for-pay-what-you-can-restaurant-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/412299\/","title":{"rendered":"Good Taste: Mark your calendar for ‘pay what you can’ restaurant day"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good Taste shows you where to stick your fork in the Bay. This week, we\u2019re highlighting the locals involved in the pay what you can Global Day of Hospitality<\/a> on Aug. 26.<\/p>\n

Next month, diners from around the world will get the chance to experience a good meal on a sliding scale.<\/p>\n

The organizers of the now-annual Global Day of Hospitality, Norma Listman and Saqib Keval, originally met in Oakland, as reported in Oaklandside<\/a>. They now operate a restaurant in Mexico City called Masala y Maiz.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the Bay Area, people are a little more used to the idea of pay what you can,\u201d Keval told the publication. \u201cBut when we started incorporating it into our restaurant here, it was not common in the industry in Mexico. There was a lot of educating the public involved. Restaurateurs and people in the food media would get mad at us. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey would send us angry messages because they didn\u2019t understand the idea and thought it would ruin their businesses. We had to convince customers that it wasn\u2019t some scam. It\u2019s exactly as it sounds.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last week in Good Taste, we shared that the San Francisco restaurant Merchant Roots, which currently offers a $238 tasting menu called Around the Summer in 42 Plates, has monthly pay what you can nights<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"Reem\u2019s falafel salad. Photo by Tamara Palmer<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got to do everything we can to push against the status quo,\u201d Reem Assil explained to KQED<\/a> of why she was one of the first in the Bay to sign Reem\u2019s California<\/a> up for Listaman\u2019s and Keval\u2019s Global Day of Hospitality. \u201cIt\u2019s something that materially impacts the community around you.\u201d<\/p>\n

After seeing Assil post about joining the Global Day of Hospitality, more locals joined the cause.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw Reem\u2019s post and thought this was super cool,\u201d says Al Pastor Papi<\/a> owner Miguel Escobedo, who is also participating. \u201cI\u2019ve always thought that this concept is something that works well with the way we do business and the way we are involved in the community, so I thought, let me look into this. <\/p>\n

\u201cI saw that the origins were from a restaurant in Mexico City, so I applied. I still have to iron out the details, but I told them I\u2019m excited to work with a group of likeminded people who love to give back to their communities. I not only get to work with the people around here, but whoever is involved in Mexico, which is extra special for me. We\u2019re looking forward to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other Bay Area participants as of this writing include Bombera<\/a>, Merkado<\/a>, Sfizio<\/a>, Tacos Oscar<\/a>, and Understory<\/a>. Here\u2019s a signup form<\/a> for restaurants who might want to join the Aug. 26 effort, and a full list of participants<\/a>.<\/p>\n