SAME Cafe
The SAME Cafe is a nonprofit community cafe located at 2023 East Colfax Avenue, Denver, Colorado. Brad and Libby Birky invested $30,000 to open the restaurant on October 20, 2006, inspired by their background in community service and a visit to the One World Cafe in Salt Lake City, Utah.[1] The name is an acronym for "So All May Eat", and their motto is "Making healthy, organic food available to all". They offer higher quality food in a pay what you can format where the diner puts what they feel their meal was worth in a donation envelope. They also accept an hour of work in exchange for a meal, made possible by Colorado laws which do not require a food handlers certificate for restaurant workers.[2]
Economics
They pay about $2,000 a month for rent and approximately $2,000 for the food.[2] Before their expansion in November, 2008 they served 40–50 meals a day with seven tables.[3][4] Since the expansion they now serve 75–100 meals a day. The average cost of a meal is approximately $2 and the average donation per meal determined by a reporter was $3.66.[2] Over time, the average donation has decreased, but it was offset by an increase in customers. They offer a limited menu which changes daily, simplifying the variety of food they need to purchase and reducing the amount of wasted food. They buy from a variety of sources, including warehouse stores such as Sam's Club, higher end grocery stores such as Whole Foods Market and even the Denver Botanic Gardens.[2]
They are open for lunch six days a week and closed on Sunday.
Recognition
On the March 9, 2009 NBC Nightly News broadcast, Brian Williams singled out the SAME Cafe for recognition in the "Make a Difference" segment.[5] That broadcast inspired Panera Bread CEO Ron Shaich to create a similar restaurant, Panera Cares.[6]
References
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