Masala y Maiz serves its full menu with no bill; diners write how much goes to staff

BBC Travel reported in August 2025 that Masala y Maiz, a Mexico City restaurant serving Mexican, African and Indian fusion dishes, holds "Eat What You Want, Pay What You Can" days several times a year. Diners get the signature menu and an envelope for whatever payment they have or deem acceptable. There is no bill and no reservations, so guests queue first-come, first-served. The one requirement is that diners write how much of what they leave is for the staff rather than the restaurant.

Dishes are prepared exactly as on a normal day in size and quality. Owners Norma Listman and Saqib Keval say they do not lose money on the event: most visitors give something, even if only art for the staff, and some have paid up to three times the usual cost.

After winning a Michelin star, the owners used the attention to widen the idea. On 27 August 2025, more than 20 other Mexico City eateries, from small bakeries to another Michelin-starred restaurant, took part in a first citywide Pay What You Can Day.

Serve the usual menu at identical quality with no price, take payment in an envelope, and make diners say how much is for the staff.

Normal portions and quality mean guests feel they are invited to the real thing, not a charity version.

Asking diners to name the staff share keeps the people doing the work in view and builds their share in.

Some guests pay up to three times the usual cost, offsetting those who pay little.

A Michelin star gave the owners reach to enlist other restaurants.

Letting guests set the price, while asking them to split it between house and staff, can fund access without losing money.

Keval says people from Chile, Colombia, Peru and elsewhere in Mexico have asked to join and he hopes for a "pay what you can international". The BBC notes similar schemes exist independently, such as Annalakshmi in Singapore and Rethink Cafe in Brooklyn. The no-loss claim and the payments are the owners' own statements.