Wil Andruschak

What’s the concept called?

Eat, drink and pay what you think. That’s the tagline.

There are restaurants elsewhere that are pay what you want, but this is pay what you can afford?

It’s not really pay what you can afford, it’s pay what you think. It’s a little different. I’m not trying to feed the poor, the hungry, or have a soup kitchen. It’s more pay what you think. What do you think the experience is worth?

Where did you get this idea?

It really is an idea I’ve had forever, since I was about 10 years old.

So when most people were dreaming of Strawberry Shortcake, you were thinking about this?

I used to always think about how come we can’t all eat, how come we can’t all have our basic needs filled.

Do people overpay or underpay?

Almost always overpay. I think also, it’s a testament to people. I just think when you leave people to their own devices, and their own decisions, they always pull through. I think people inherently want to do good things and they believe in building up different concepts and ideas.

So it gives you faith in humanity?

Yeah, well I think that’s what’s lacking. I think that’s why the system we have is the way it is, because we don’t have any faith in humanity at all.

Has anyone ever not paid?

Not so far. However, it really is that open. I do hope to have a restaurant of my own within a year or so and it will be like that across the board.

You’re in partnership with Balance Lounge and Eatery on 16th Ave. S.W.?

Yeah. I basically peddled myself around because I wanted to have something going — a model. I went to a lot of different places. I got a lot of crazy, weird responses. People were mostly scared, people were angry, people were… I don’t know. I walked in off the street and he [owner Karam Badrudin] was like, ‘Oh crazy, let’s do it.’ We share expenses and split profits.

Who are your customers?

People from the neighbourhood and surrounding businesses. Regular people walking down the street, people that I see at restaurants that I go to, and actually, currently I’m the [general manager] at Pulcinella, so people there, people everywhere.”

What kind of food do you serve?

It’s fast, it’s fresh, it’s organic. It does have a Mediterranean feel to it, a lot of it, but also stuff I just turn on its ear. It’s just based on that Italian tenet of cooking, which is really fresh food, fresh ingredients and you can’t go wrong with what you make. There’s a lot of soups, and I’ll change it for the season. Soups and wraps and salads and all that kind of stuff. Hearty, not over-portioned.

Do you have a bestseller?

My BLT for sure. And my soup. My organic chicken, orzo soup.

Are you making money?

There have been some profits, I wouldn’t say they’re through the roof yet. At this point, I think not enough people know about it. People who do find out about it are just ‘Wow’ — intrigued, interested, want to come down, want to test it out. I’m not focused on the profit at this point, and to be honest with you, I didn’t open it for the profit at all. I don’t think money should be a goal, ever.

Is there an element of public shame in paying?

I leave them alone. Get up and leave what you want on the table and out you go. They walk out with their integrity. I don’t know if they’ve paid more or less than they can afford.

So you don’t stand over the table watching?

No, not at all. It’s very casual. I don’t focus on that at all, I focus on the social atmosphere, the food and I focus on customer service.

Do you have a team of servers?

Nope, just me, and I have someone in the kitchen. I do the prep and then I have somebody that puts it together for me so I can be in the front of house.

Could this concept work in another business?

Yeah, actually, I plan on starting with food and then I plan on doing pay-what-you-think clothing and I would like to go into pay-what-you-think living. For me it’s food, clothing, shelter — three basic human needs. Once they’re filled I’ve always thought to myself: ‘Then what could we accomplish?’