Potager Restaurant in Arlington now open for dinner on weekend nights

by Teresa Gubbins

ARLINGTON — As noted on Le Chowhound, Potager, the pay-what-you-want healthy-ish restaurant in Arlington, has extended its hours from lunch-only to serving dinner on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, and is encouraging people to BYOB.

"We started doing that last week," confirmed an employee at the restaurant. "And we're already getting about 20 a night, which is good for just having started it."

The restaurant has also made changes to its payment system. Previously, diners could pay whatever they thought the meal was worth, and -- here's the Achilles heel -- the restaurant set it up so that diners paid anonymously. You'd put your payment in an envelope, then place the envelope into a bucket -- a scenario that seemed to encourage people to underpay.

"We're trying to work out solutions to the payment system," the unnamed employee said. "Now we're not taking payments anonymously. You still have envelope but you give the payment straight to [owner] Cynthia Chippendale."

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coelacanth, says:

The payments are still anonymous, as always. You drop them in a sort of bucket (cash) or use a credit card. I'm not sure where the idea that Cynthia monitors customers came from, but she's way too busy for that. She has become more direct about food costs (and almost everyone is fair; it's just a few who take advantage). But the "pay what you think is reasonable" concept works out well, and reaffirms that people are good natured, and nearly all enjoy the experience. It's a fun place with great food.