Restaurant offering ‘pay-what-you-can’ menu after water crisis

(Willingham, James)

RICHMOND, Virginia (WTVR) -- From the moment the doors opened Tuesday, the phone at Philly Vegan on Richmond’s Southside was ringing off the hook.

It marked a full week since the all-vegan food shop was able to serve a meal to customers. The business, like dozens of others in the area, shut its doors during a days-long water crisis caused by multiple malfunctions at the city’s water treatment plant. Businesses reported water outages, and the city operated under a boil water advisory for about six days.

“The way our operation is set up, we cannot do what needs to be done, having to boil water over and over and over again, just to be able to work,” said co-owner Samuel Veney. “It was just impossible.”

Veney said the business lost thousands of dollars from being closed last week and is now assessing how to possibly compensate employees who lost wages.

“It’s a lot, it’s a lot. And when you’re in the restaurant industry, you’re making pennies on the dollar, so every dollar counts. Every penny counts. So it was really tough for us,” Veney said. “What can we do for our employees? It’s not their fault. It’s not our fault as well, but they’ve got mouths to feed, so we’re in discussions right now about how we’re going to be able to help them through that week without work.”

Despite the losses, Veney said through the closure, he and his co-workers gained a renewed sense of giving back to the community.

This week, Philly Vegan is offering a “pay-what-you-can” menu, not expecting a penny from those who cannot pay for their meal.

“It’s a lot of people in need after that water crisis. It’s a lot of people who weren’t able to go to work, it’s a lot of people that weren’t able to leave their house,” Veney said. “You’ve got snow, water crisis, and more snow. That’s the perfect storm for people in need.”

It’s not a new thing for Philly Vegan. Over the last four years, Veney said its monthly “pay-what-you-can” menu, which is usually one random day each month, has fed over 6,000 people.

“Sometimes they’re at the door as soon as they open for pay-what-you-can, and that’s a great feeling, to know that we’re able to help people in need,” Veney said.

It’s also not the restaurant’s first time wondering if the city will support the service industry after a crisis. Last year, Veney and other restaurant owners found themselves embroiled in a meals-tax mess following the COVID-19 pandemic.

“At least they’re trying. That’s a good thing. They could do nothing,” Veney said.

Mayor Danny Avula announced at a city council meeting Monday that the city would start a “Regional Relief Fund” with an initial US$25,000 investment, work with the Office of Economic Development to support small businesses and extend all payment deadlines for city payments by 10 days. It also announced an upcoming “Water Recovery Week,” which would be targeted at supporting businesses impacted by the city’s water outage.

“You can see that this has cost a lot of people a lot of money, and you know, talking to the different restaurants, talking to the different business owners, I think that’s a great start too, to find out what are our needs, how did this impact us, and how can we come to some type of solution where everybody can make sure that this doesn’t hurt them to the point where they have to close down,” Veney said.

Despite the financial losses, Veney said no dollar amount makes up for being a good neighbor.

“Who is going to take accountability, who is going to be transparent, and who is ready to work together and unify to make this city better?” Veney said. “So, if they’re able to do that and they’re ready to do that, we shall see, but time will tell.”

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