In Red Bank New Jersey, there is a new restaurant where you can eat for nearly free….if you really are unable to pay for the meal. The catch is, if you cannot pay, you must volunteer 1 hour in the back….washing dishes, putting stock away, or anything they might need done for an hour. If you are able to pay for the meal, great! The price is whatever you think the meal is worth. There are no prices on the menu. The owner of this new pay-what-you-want restaurant did it for the community, and hopes the idea catches on across the country. In fact, he encourages folks who want to do this, to go ahead, take his idea! He calls it “Soul Kitchen”
The owner, is Jon Bon Jovi, a popular musician of the past thirty years. He started out helping his community in a church basement in a soup kitchen, when he wasn’t on the road. After a few years of that, he decided to take the idea retail. They found an old auto-body shop and spent months on it, converting it from a garage to a restaurant, decorating, finding the food. Although the concept is not new, this is the first time a celebrity has done this. There is also a hint, that if this goes well, Bon Jovi and his wife will open another restaurant just like this, someplace else down the road.
The food is organic and locally grown, then served in the restaurant. The concept is to help out in the community, wherever your community is. There are no boundaries between people in the restaurant, Bon Jovi says. Even the ones who cannot pay, are served with dignity and respect. It serves a regular 3-course meal, cooked and prepared by a professional chef. It is a place to make friends, and to be a friend.
Restaurant hours are from Thursdays to Saturdays: 5pm to 7pm. Sundays from 12 Noon to 3pm. They highly recommend calling for reservations, as seating is limited. The phone number is: (732-842-0900)
Source not linked above.
Bon Jovi interview about his restaurant