Here's a great instructional video to show to any anti-capitalists out there. After the shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by ICE agents, the owner of this Minneapolis restaurant, Modern Times, decided to take prices off the menu. It seems the idea was a "pay what you can" effort, and he managed to make it six months before declaring a "break" and reorganizing.
The owner himself says that things started OK, but by the end, 85 percent of his "customers" were homeless or addicts. We're not sure how he paid the staff working the kitchen, the food suppliers, or the landlord. Imagine: A restaurant says "pay what you want," and diners decide to eat for free.
After 6 months of conducting a social justice experiment, which included free food to anyone, this Minneapolis restaurant is taking a “break”
— AmyLouWho (@perseverare1776) July 27, 2026
The owner removed all menu prices and ran a donation-based model to fight food insecurity and local immigration enforcement surges.
The… pic.twitter.com/WF2W5evBsW
The post continues:
… results:
• 85% of customers were either homeless and/or addicts
• Served over 30,000 free meals funded by community donations over six months
• The model ultimately proved unsustainable, forcing a pause due to burnout and financial strain
Can mutual-aid restaurant models ever work long-term without permanent external funding, or are they bound to burn out?
#MutualAid
#CapitalismWorks
What is up with the people in Minneapolis?
It's not a restaurant...it's a soup kitchen.
— Mark Wahlstrom (@MarkWahlstrom) July 27, 2026
Yep. He’s so creative!
— AmyLouWho (@perseverare1776) July 27, 2026
So he runs a food pantry with no donors, volunteers, or benefactors.
— Hominid (@Realitybased831) July 27, 2026
It’s not “mutual aid” when one side is just taking what the other is giving.
— Douglas Karr (@douglaskarr) July 27, 2026
There is no better societal model than giving addicts everything for free so they can use all monies for drugs. /s
— Nicholas Wake 🇺🇸 (@nickwakenc) July 27, 2026
Another communist effort fails.
— robcox (@robcox) July 27, 2026
Went broke in 6 months feeding people via donations and blame the business “structure” in the US?
— Patrick (@FNU_MNU_LNU1) July 27, 2026
Minneapolis itself is a social experiment on how to take once prosperous midwestern city and turn it into a shithole 💩🕳️
— Clem (@Clem19600101) July 27, 2026
I lived there. I’m still in Minnesota. Minneapolis was a beautiful, thriving City that I loved. And now it’s a dump. You go downtown on a Saturday night and nothing is happening. If it wasn’t for so many businesses here we would be the next Detroit.
— AmyLouWho (@perseverare1776) July 27, 2026
The result was obvious: good tippers fled, decent customers wanting peace followed, then non-tipping pickups abandoned them for fear of illness and disease. Nothing left but the dregs who don’t shower, tip or clean. Staff worked more for less money.
— Cagey (@remergendiverge) July 27, 2026
In a high trust environment that is homogeneous, this is a feasible endeavor. In a diversified neighborhood, this is destined to fail. Funny how failure in diverse neighborhoods is the equitable outcome for every business.
— dan123 (@dan1231842225) July 27, 2026
I am assuming NGO grants, but one must think he still has to pay staff and rent.
— Philmore (@DukeJukem777) July 27, 2026
Where the hell does some naive cuck get the money/capital to do this?
The Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Milwaukee has been serving free lunches to the homeless 6 days a week since 2002. Turns out when you root your outreach to the poor in love of God and love of the neighbors He created, it lasts longer than basing it on communism. pic.twitter.com/z7CnismZkB
— SlowpokeCon🦡 🇻🇦 ヤドンコン🇺🇸 (@SlowpokeCon) July 27, 2026
It’d be nice if we could leverage this as a cautionary tale to change the minds of progressive voters, but they’re beyond reasoning with.
— Deplorathal (@Deplorathal) July 27, 2026
The guy appears to have almost learned a lesson, but not quite, seeing as he's just taking a break.
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