… she had no restaurant experience, and her business was failing. On that same day, however, Ms. Cerreta had an idea that changed everything – she would stop charging set prices for the food she served. Instead, she would let people price their own food or allow customers to sweep the floors or wash dishes in exchange for a meal.
Five years later, Cerreta’s idea continues to blossom at her restaurant, One World Café in Salt Lake City
…
Happy is the country where that sort of idea works.
There’s a chain restaurant here in Moscow, “Yolki-Palki” - not too expensive one, but not for those who save every penny ($15 for a lunch, while the average is $8-10, and McD meal is $5). They have a “eat what you want” option in the menu - you pay fixed price, get a plate and put there whatever you want and as much as you want.
On each table there’s a note: “Dear customers who have chosen ‘eat what you want’ option: have in mind that if two or more persons are eating from one plate, we’ll have to charge you two or more prices of that option.”
I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t have put that note if there was no need in it.
I don’t think Ms. Cerreta will make lots of money here if she ever wants to try.
I use to eat at a Hare Krishna place that asked for donations. About 3-4 bucks was the norm, some gave more, some less, none were turned away. The food was really good often vegan. Because of this often Vegans and Indians and other people that held dietary restrictions would eat there. Like most things in this area, a better offer to rent the space came along and the restaurant moved out.
All you can eat buffet restaurants are common here. The irony is that American restaurant portions have become so large, all you can eat is often less food than a standard entree because most usually have leftovers or split a plate. At all you can eat, there are no take home boxes and as you noted, no plate sharing.
I did notice the city in the story as Salt Lake City, where there are lots of Mormons. Mormon are stereotyped as one of the most honest of folks. So much so that the late Howard Hughes (one of the richest man on Earth at the time) would only hire Mormons when his paranoia started to get the better of him. Hughes wouldn’t trust anyone except Mormons.
I don’t think this kind of restaurant would work in any number of American neighborhoods. College towns, inner city, both would make for poor odds.
It is a big leap of faith, though I guess if you are going out of business anyway, how much more can you lose? Another possibility is that the restaurant has one or two big spenders that might drop $1000 per meal because they love the concept, and they support the place while the rest are getting a free ride.
