East Texas Needs a One-of-a-Kind Restaurant Like This
Imagine going out for lunch and when the bill comes, you decide what to pay. A restaurant that works on the honor system and allows you to pay what you can, has popped up in Fort Worth. Could East Texas be next?
Taste Community Restaurant is opening this week in Fort Worth on South Main Street between Rosedale Street and Magnolia Avenue, and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram says it's meant to give people a break on the food bill while they get back on their feet after losing a job or falling on tough times. We gotta eat after all. Circumstances change, but hunger doesn't and the owners of the restaurant say they're answering a call from God with this new concept.
The Taste Project estimates there are 48 million Americans that are food insecure, and this non-profit was founded by Jeff Williams, who grew up in a family where food was scarce sometimes. He wants to give folks a chance now to eat well while they're getting back on their feet.
He's not aiming to put just anything on the table with the new restaurant project. There are no cheap packaged noodles on the menu, and no creamy beef on toast. The menu is diverse and mouth-watering, with appetizers like mozzarella stuffed creamy risotto rice balls coated in bread crumbs and deep fried, and served with apple mustard. They've got burgers, shrimp and grits, and even fried rabbit on the entree menu, and brownie sundaes for dessert. When the bill comes, they just ask that you pay what you can afford, pay what you would typically pay, or pay what you would typically pay, plus a little extra. They also take donations, and since it's a non-profit that is tax deductible.
We have a lot of awesome restaurants in East Texas already, but none like this one. Wouldn't it be kinda nice to have this dine-out option sitting in Lufkin or Nacogdoches? Contact the Taste Project for advice on getting started, work a little of that good East Texas barbecue into the menu, and we'll all show up and "pay a little extra" to help spread the love. This is an idea worth expanding.