An off day for a restaurant typically consists of cleaning, stocking and other administrative tasks to prepare for the week ahead. If you were to walk into downtown Pullman’s Scusi on a Tuesday, a day the restaurant is closed for typical business, you would still find burners firing and meals flying out the kitchen window, business as usual.
As of last Tuesday, Scusi has brought back a free meal program aimed at helping address food insecurity within the community. They call it “Feeding Our Friends.”
Samantha Holt manages the East Main Street Italian joint for her father, restaurant owner Michael Byrne. Holt said if it would not force the closure of the restaurant, and if her father had his way, this would be the permanent business model for Scusi.
“The owner, Michael, he’s always had a passion to do this. If he could turn this place into a soup kitchen, he would,” Holt said. “If he could do this every day, that’s what he would do.”
According to the restaurant’s website, Scusi is a “neighborhood trattoria serving classic Italian dishes in a friendly, welcoming atmosphere.”
Scusi began its “Feeding Our Friends” campaign during the height of COVID-19 in 2020, along with many other Pullman businesses. The restaurant handed out free meals to community members every Tuesday for about two years, only ending the venture because of a decrease in demand.
“A lot of restaurants in the area were doing this during COVID, to the point where you could almost get a free meal every night of the week,” Holt said while bagging meals for the steady stream of community members making their way through the door.
Restaurant owners and community members alike have been hoping for the return of “Feeding Our Friends” ever since. Last Tuesday, Scusi decided to take the plunge and get the word out.
“Whether it was people who needed it or just wanted to help keep it going, the outreach was crazy,” Holt said. “Pullman people are just really good people.”
Last week, during its first Feeding Our Friends event since COVID, Scusi handed out 25 meals in two hours.
The restaurant matched that number Tuesday in the first 10 minutes.
Regardless of the increase in demand, Scusi plans to keep the program running, feeding as many people as needed. Although there is a donation bin that occasionally sees a $5 bill, Holt stressed the effort is not about the money.
“Michael will keep it going no matter what, whether we are negative going into the next week or not. All we care about is the need, the outreach and how we can help people go about their lives,” Holt said.
“We always have the same mentality: If we can, we will,” Holt said. “So when people are like, ‘Thank you so much,’ we say we really don’t need the thanks. We are genuinely so happy to help out.”
Angela Bailey • Apr 16, 2026 at 6:34 pm
You’re a very much a blessing to the community. Thank you for doing this