Good Taste: Mark your calendar for ‘pay what you can’ restaurant day

Good Taste shows you where to stick your fork in the Bay. This week, we’re highlighting the locals involved in the pay what you can Global Day of Hospitality on Aug. 26.

Next month, diners from around the world will get the chance to experience a good meal on a sliding scale.

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

“In the Bay Area, people are a little more used to the idea of pay what you can,” Keval told the publication. “But 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.

“They would send us angry messages because they didn’t understand the idea and thought it would ruin their businesses. We had to convince customers that it wasn’t some scam. It’s exactly as it sounds.”

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.

“We’ve got to do everything we can to push against the status quo,” Reem Assil explained to KQED of why she was one of the first in the Bay to sign Reem’s California up for Listaman’s and Keval’s Global Day of Hospitality. “It’s something that materially impacts the community around you.”

After seeing Assil post about joining the Global Day of Hospitality, more locals joined the cause.

“I saw Reem’s post and thought this was super cool,” says Al Pastor Papi owner Miguel Escobedo, who is also participating. “I’ve 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.

“I 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’m 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’re looking forward to it.”

Other Bay Area participants as of this writing include Bombera, Merkado, Sfizio, Tacos Oscar, and Understory. Here’s a signup form for restaurants who might want to join the Aug. 26 effort, and a full list of participants.

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