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Austin Eatery Lets Patrons Set Their Own Prices
27 May
Summary
- Restaurant offers 'Pay What You Will' Tuesdays for all diners.
- Promotion aims to make dining accessible to hospitality workers.
- Customers pay about two-thirds of the menu price on Tuesdays.
L'Oca d'Oro, an Italian-inspired restaurant in Austin, Texas, has implemented a "Pay What You Will" (PWYW) Tuesday program. This initiative allows diners to determine the price of their meals from the à la carte menu each Tuesday evening.
The promotion, launched in December 2025, specifically aims to support Austin residents, including hospitality workers, teachers, and healthcare professionals, by addressing affordability challenges. The restaurant wants to ensure that a "fabulous L'Oca d'Oro experience" is accessible to everyone, regardless of their budget.
While food prices are flexible, drinks are not included in the PWYW model and remain at full price. A mandatory 20 percent service charge is still applied to all checks to ensure living wages and benefits for staff. On average, customers pay approximately two-thirds of the standard menu price for their meals, though some pay less and others more, helping to subsidize the program.
The restaurant has observed an increase in business on other, typically slower, nights since introducing the PWYW Tuesdays. Co-owners Adam Orman and Fiore Tedesco III are reportedly pleased with the initial results and are considering expanding the model. They also operate a GoFundMe to further support the initiative.
