Earlier this year, a Minneapolis café quietly removed the prices from its menu -- and profits are up. Owner Dylan Alverson transformed Post Modern Times into a donation-only restaurant in February 2026, initially as an act of social activism after a series of community deaths he witnessed up close. What happened next surprised even him. Between 40% and 50% of diners pay nothing at all, yet the restaurant continues to operate and grow. "I have succeeded more than I ever did when I was running a conventional business employing 22 people," Alverson told The New York Times. The staff work on a volunteer basis, a former violence interrupter keeps quiet watch outside, and the menu now functions less like a transaction and more like an invitation. Alverson calls it "a place of economic equality that doesn't really exist in a business setting" — and he's asking, with genuine curiosity, "What can we learn from this?"
