A Vallejo restaurant just became the “proud 2 pay” café thanks to rapper LaRussell!
For three weeks, patrons at Momo’s Cafe will be allowed to pay what they can for their food, and rapper and entrepreneur LaRussell will pick up the rest of their tab. The initiative started on October 9 and will run through the end of the last week of October.
This is the second year LaRussell has teamed up with the Bay Area establishment to help feed the community he grew up in as a kid.
“The goal is for people to pay what they can, and [or] if you want to overpay to really support, that’s a great thing, but pay what you can,” he told NBC Bay Area. “We know there’s people who can’t pay as well. We have a very high homeless population in Vallejo, and everyone’s not able to pay, but we still want to make sure you eat.”
LaRussell frequented the restaurant way before its owner, Manuel Melendrez, realized who he was. Since then, Melendrez and LaRussell have partnered on several community events, including live shows LaRussell has hosted in front of the cafe.
“Manny’s been here for decades. He’s been putting feet to the pavement in the community for decades,” LaRussell added. “Every time I had an idea that I wanted to execute for the community, he was down.”
The rapper also previously used his own money to help with a remodel of the restaurant, which has been part of the Bay Area community for more than a decade.
Photo by Momo’s Cafe