The Assembly Row branch of Clover Food Lab has greeted the public to a “Pay What You Want Day” during its recent opening.

By Fernando Cervantes Jr.

Founded in 2008, Clover Food Lab started as a small food truck outside of MIT serving sustainable and local vegetarian food. Its founder, Ayr Muir, has been CEO of the company since the beginning.

With 15 locations around the Boston-area, the restaurant has been expanding. Last week, its newest location at Assembly Row opened and held its very own, “Pay What You Want Day.”

“Anybody who opens a restaurant has this challenge, all the staff are new,” Muir said. “We started using the opening to raise money for causes that we really like. It’s a really fun fundraising activity we do.”

On this day customers are encouraged to come in and order whatever they want and pay whatever they want. All proceeds go to the foundation of the company’s choice, this time all proceeds were donated to the Mystic River Watershed Association.

According to Muir, the mission of Clover is to provide sustainable meals designed to help the fight against climate change. For him, using local sources of food from farmers is one great way to do this.

“Our focus is really fantastic ingredients and focusing on highlighting what’s in season, what tastes great,” Muir said.

The “Pay What You Want Day” was a resounding success according to Muir, with the restaurant getting a great turnout to the grand opening. When asked if the opening has been meeting expectations, Muir expressed confidence in the future of the store.

“It’s a lot better than we had expected or projected, I think we’re coming in almost double the volume we were expecting. It’s a nice warm welcome and we’re really excited to see it develop further,” Muir said.

Looking towards the future, Muir hopes to expand Clover Food Lab’s footprint in Somerville hoping to one day open a store in Davis Square or other locations in the area. Currently the store in Assembly Row is the only location inside of Somerville with the closest being in Cambridge.

The new store is located in Assembly Row and is open from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. every day.