Post Modern Times Serves 155 Daily Meals Without Prices, Stabilizing After Immigration Raid
Updated
Updated · Business Insider · Jul 12
Post Modern Times Serves 155 Daily Meals Without Prices, Stabilizing After Immigration Raid
1 articles · Updated · Business Insider · Jul 12
Summary
Four months after removing menu prices, Minneapolis restaurant Post Modern Times is still operating on a pay-what-you-can basis, serving about 155 meals a day and saying the model has become financially stable.
The shift began after immigration raids shook the neighborhood and neighbor Alex Pretti was killed during an operation, prompting the restaurant to join a tax strike by not charging for meals or generating sales tax.
About 90% of meals now come without a donation, but supporters gave roughly $500,000 over the winter after the story spread online, helping sustain the experiment.
The new model has left the business in better shape than before, owner Dylan Alverson said, allowing him to pay himself about $50,000 a year and workers $25 an hour, with a goal of $30.
Alverson said the approach grew from years of pressure on independent restaurants from the pandemic, inflation and labor costs, and he argues the traditional neighborhood restaurant model is no longer working for many operators.