Norma Listman and Saqib Keval, husband and wife co-founders of Michelin-starred restaurant Masala y Maíz, are no strangers to the uniting power of food.
Their Mexico City fine dining establishment was born out of their respective East African, Indian, and shared Mexican culinary traditions, representing their intersecting identities and migrations across the world.
And when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the service industry, they wanted to find a way to use the restaurant as a tool to bring people together, even when it was especially hard to do so.
That’s when they started Paga Lo Que Puedas, or Pay What You Can, a one-day event in which guests could dine at a luxury restaurant for whatever cost they were able to pay.
“We began Paga Lo Que Puedas/Pay What You Can at Masala y Maíz during the pandemic, when our restaurant, our community and our industry were struggling,” the pair told Good Good Good in an email.
“We wanted to make the restaurant more accessible while creating a tangible way to support our neighbors and keep our staff working. It started as a small gesture, but it was also an experiment in trust: What happens when we remove the fixed price from the menu and ask people to honestly decide what they are able to pay for their meal?”
The experiment had astounding results, and the initiative became a recurring event. Last year, 20 other Mexico City restaurants joined in.
Now, for this year’s Pay What You Can Day on August 26, 2026, 100 other restaurants from 14 countries will join Masala y Maíz in the offering.
They include locations in some of the world’s major cities, and acclaimed spots that have also been awarded Michelin stars or boast beloved titles. Restaurants operate just as they normally would, with a fully operational kitchen and staff earning their same wages and tips.
The only difference is what diners choose to pay.
“When we invited other restaurants to join us, we had no idea how people would respond,” Listman and Keval said. “To see this initiative grow from Masala y Maiz to a true global day of hospitality makes us feel hopeful that there are so many like-minded chefs and restaurateurs around the world who believe in community-centered hospitality and using their restaurants to create change.”
The duo said that the growing interest in these shared values reflect the realities many face, as diners reduce their excursions in the wake of increasing costs of living, and chefs and restaurant teams face their own hurdles in maintaining operations in a tumultuous economy.
“The chefs participating in this initiative are all united by the desire to make the industry more inclusive and make their dining rooms more accessible,” Listman and Keval explained.
“Restaurants are increasingly expensive to operate, but they are also increasingly difficult for many people to access. Hospitality has become a privilege only available to the few who can afford to pay for it. As dining out becomes more expensive, it also becomes more segregated along lines of class and race. That goes against why so many of us joined this industry in the first place.”
The Paga Lo Que Puedas model, they said, invites both diners and restaurants to “confront those contradictions.”
“It creates space for a different kind of exchange, rooted in dignity, mutual trust and the belief that hospitality should bring people together across differences, not reinforce who can and cannot afford a seat at the table.”
In this unprecedented event that unites fine dining restaurants across the globe, Listman and Keval anticipate a simple, yet impactful result.
“We hope that diners are able to reflect on the labor, care and knowledge that goes into a good meal and acknowledge the workers who make it happen,” they said.
“For restaurants, we hope it demonstrates that generosity and sustainability do not have to be opposing ideas, and that a restaurant can be more than a place of transaction: it can be a platform for building community.”
Both parties should anticipate joy and belonging, in addition to a delicious bite — and probably some lines out the door.
“Paga Lo Que Puedas depends on mutual trust: restaurants trusting their guests, guests trusting restaurants, and everyone recognizing their responsibility to care for one another,” Listman and Keval concluded.
“We hope people leave imagining what becomes possible when restaurants help build communities rooted in mutual care, trust, and hospitality — not just for one day, but as an everyday practice.”
Below is a list of restaurants participating in 2026’s Paga Lo Que Puedas/Pay What You Can. Check out the event’s website for a full list of participating restaurants.
New York City
- Kabawa, led by Chef Paul Carmichael, recognized by the MICHELIN Guide for New York and ranked #4 on The New York Times list of 100 best restaurants in New York City.
- HAGS, praised by Bon Appétit as one of the “Best New Restaurants of 2023” and spotlighted by The New York Times.
- Vato, Chef Fidel Caballero’s casual daytime bakery and sister to Michelin-starred restaurant Corima.
- Hellender, spotlighted by Bon Appetit, The New York Times, and Eater and led by rising star, Chef Yara Herrera.
Washington, D.C.
- Albi, the Michelin-starred Palestinian restaurant listed as number 33 in North America’s 50 Best Restaurants and led by Chef Michael Rafidi.
- Oyster Oyster, the Michelin-starred vegetarian restaurant led by Chef Rob Rubba
Austin, Texas
- Comadre Panaderia, located in Austin, Texas and helmed by Food & Wine’s “Best New Chef” Mariela Camacho.
- Nixta Taqueria, Michelin Green Star-recipient and James Beard Award-winning restaurant located in Austin, Texas.
- Lenoir, recognized by Michelin
- L'Oca d'Oro
Houston, Texas
New Orleans, Louisiana
- Casimiro, Chef Ana Castro’s soon-to-open Mexican breakfast and lunch restaurant, located in New Orleans.
- Ayu Bakehouse
Oakland, California
- Bombera, Chef Dominica Rice-Cisnero’s Michelin-recognized restaurant located in Oakland, California.
- Understory, a worker-owned restaurant and collective based in Oakland, California.
- Sfizio
San Francisco, California
Baltimore, Maryland
Atlanta, Georgia
- Kamayan, Michelin-recognized Filipino restaurant
- El Ponce
- Vinny's Mutual Aid Bakery
Nashville, Tennessee
Boston, Massachusetts
- Barra, named best "Mexican Restaurant” from Boston Magazine
- Comfort Kitchen, recognized as one of the “Best Restaurants in Boston” from The New York Times
International
- Mexico:
- Columbia:
- Spain: Casa Dulce Panadería Mexicana
- Nigeria: El Padrino
- India:
- Turkey:
- Foxy Nişantaşı, a Michelin-recognized restaurant and wine bar
- Todos Los Días
- The Rabbit Hole at Olympos Mountain Lodge
- Capra Çukurbağ
- Todos Los Dias
- Cuba: Grados
- Australia: Kolkata Social
- Brazil: Midi Forneria E Enoteca
- Denmark: Wasted
- Peru: Piedra
- Italy: Alma Latina
- Portugal: A la Mexa
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Featured Image: @masalaymaiz/Instagram
