There’s a restaurant in Bloomfield, New York, called the Grapevine Cafe where the owners let customers ‘pay as they wish’. What an interesting idea, eh!

As I was watching this video on CNN video (I can’t link to the video because I don’t think they have links to specific videos), it occurred to me that’s what the Buddhist temples do here too. Many of them offer free, buffet-style vegetarian meals on the first and fifteenth days of the Chinese moon.

That’s where I got my vegetarian curry and noodles last week. The food is free for those who can’t afford it but you’re encouraged to make a small donation on the way out.

For the owners of Grapevine Cafe in New York though, business has been slow as people are feeling the pinch of the rising cost of eating out. So as a way to encourage people to eat there, they have certain items (depending on which ingredients are on sale) each day where you pay what you can afford.

It’s a really great idea and more restaurants should do this. Many restaurants charge entirely too much for food which they claim to be good but which I find substandard. It’d certainly be nice if I could pay what I think the food is worth, not what they claim it should be worth.

What do you think?

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