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Fall in Love at Taste
Taste Community Restaurant may look like your average restaurant in a bustling, newly redeveloped area of South Main Street in Fort Worth’s Near Southside. The restaurant hit Yelp’s “Top 100 Places to Eat in 2019” list earlier this year and later Yelp’s “All-Time Top 100 Places to Eat in Texas” list.
But Taste Community Restaurant is more than just your average restaurant. Its mission is what sets it apart from other eateries.
Taste Community Restaurant is the first project of the Taste Project organization designed to help feed, educate, and serve Tarrant County’s food insecure population, a total of 16.6 percent of Tarrant County’s overall community (Feeding America), so they may “…taste and see the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8).
photo credit: Ross Reitzammer
Taste’s solution is a fresh and healthy pay-what-you-can restaurant where everyone in the community, regardless of financial means, can enjoy a healthy, high quality meal, made from seasonal ingredients from the surrounding area. The menu has no prices. Guests are simply asked to:
- Pay what you can afford;
- Pay what you would typically pay; or
- Pay what you would typically pay, plus a little extra to help a neighbor in need.
Summer is a thriving time for most restaurants; and it was for Taste Community Restaurant as well. The organization fed nearly 8,000 people this summer; 48% of who were in need—a figure 12 points higher than its pre-summer figures for the year.
“We were blessed to be able to meet the increased needs of our community this summer,” said Jeff Williams, Founder and Executive Director of Taste Project. “But in doing so, unlike traditional restaurants, we need a busy fall season and we are counting on our community to come through.”
photo credit: Ross Reitzammer
This summer 346 people volunteered 5,277 hours to help the organization meet the increased needs of the community.
“Our job as Christians is to show Jesus’ love and be sensitive to people,” said Briant, who volunteers at Taste eight to 12 hours a week. “It’s so hard out in the world to practice your love and Christianity. Here, you can see the results. When people write notes like: ‘This is the only meal I’ve had today. Thank you.’”
You can help by simply dining at Taste Community Restaurant. The organization is looking for more eaters this fall as a part of its plan to meet the needs of the community.
photo credit: Ross Reitzammer
To help, throughout the month of September, Taste Project will host celebrity servers at Taste Community Restaurant to help encourage all Fort Worth residents to come show support for the underlying issue of food insecurity in our community. Celebrities include Mayor Betsy Price; WFAA Daybreak’s Kara Sewell with your favorite Near Southside Nonprofits; Fort Worth Fire Fighters; She is Near Southside (Women Business Operators of the Near Southside District); Tanglewood Moms, and TCU Athletes.
This is your chance to eat, serve, and give alongside some of Fort Worth’s notables while also helping to end hunger in our community. And, with its new fall menu launching September 3rd, it’s a great time to “…taste and see the Lord is good” at Taste Community Restaurant.
This article was written by Julie Williams of the Taste Project. The Tanglewood Moms team is honored to be celebrity servers on Saturday, September 7, from 10 am to 2 pm, so come out and let us serve you for a great cause!
