BILLINGS — One Billings restaurant is celebrating Mardi Gras by paying it forward and making sure veterans eat free on Fat Tuesday.
It’s pay what you can afford day at Cajun Phattys on King Avenue West.
“It’s really designed for the whole community to come in and literally pay what they can afford,” said owner Ashley Robichaux.
Modified menus are given out on days like this.
“There’s no prices on the menus, so they really don’t know how much anything costs,” Robichaux said.
Community members can pay what they can afford but veterans can eat for free.
“Our veterans, I don’t ever want them to pay, a lot of them still do,” Robichaux said.
From 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., the restaurant was packed.
“We’ll probably seat about 200 throughout the day,” Robichaux said.
They saw hundreds of customers, like the Cadwells.
“We like to throw our support towards people who honor vets,” said Lori Cadwell.
Her husband, Neil, is an Army veteran. They’re both regulars at Cajun Phattys.
“The food’s fantastic, course I always get razzed because I always have the same thing because I have a favorite,” Neil Cadwell said.
For Robichaux, supporting the community tops losing a little bit of revenue.
“At the end of the day, you know we might take a small loss but it’s not huge,” Robichaux said.
She just wanted to bring some joy to her community in a time when things are so uncertain.
“We can all use a hug. With everything that’s going on in the world let’s just make it on Mardi Gras and you know, have another reason to celebrate the day,” said Robichaux.
