Karma Cafe serves delicious food in warm atmosphere, with no prices
Karma Cafe serves delicious food in warm atmosphere, with no prices
“Best sandwich I ever had outside my own kitchen,” said the grinning gentleman sitting across from me as he took another bite of his breakfast sandwich of scrambled eggs, green chile and jack cheese with carne adovada on golden toasted artisan sourdough. Here at Karma Cafe, strangers from all walks of life are comfortable talking to one another, and every table is a community table.
Within this humble storefront on an inconspicuous block of San Pedro NE, this modest café of a half-dozen picnic tables and mismatched chairs dishes up a revolutionary idea: a price-free menu. All breakfast and lunch dishes are pay what you can, pay what you like, pay it forward, or don’t pay at all. There are no checks, no bills, and certainly — no offense, American Express — no credit cards. You simply deposit any amount of cash you choose in a glass jar when you are through with your meal.
The mission statement posted on the wall is food for thought. It reads: “Food Karma is a not-for-profit organization run solely on community contributions. Because food and nutrition are a human right, we operate on a ‘pay as you feel’ model. This allows everyone, regardless of financial situation or otherwise, a delicious meal. What you pay is directly contributing to a meal for someone in need. Join us. One table for all.”
The concept attracts a broad range of customers and respectful, serviceoriented young wait staff who share his philosophy and do a fine job of explaining it if you ask.
Proprietor Wade McCullough began with the concept and a food truck at the Downtown Growers Market then opened Food Karma in fall 2016. He
sources ingredients, many of them organic, from local growers as much as possible. If you assumed that because the food was free it wouldn’t be very good, you’d be way off base. The former kitchen manager of the popular Tia Betty Blue’s, McCullough is a superb breakfast chef — as is partner Skylar Petty.
Taking price away from the meal is both disorienting and delightful. Wait! There must be something wrong! The food can’t be very good! And, it feels a bit like having an entire unscheduled day to yourself, a real day off. It makes you smile and gives you warm fuzzies. Maybe buying somebody else a meal has its benefits.
But the food is really, really good. The country breakfast of eggs, potatoes and toast with raspberry preserves and fresh berries is a dressed up version of the classic, and the morning crepe filled with cream cheese and mixed berry sauce is a change of pace from the breakfast burrito and carne adovada — as good as the best in town — breakfast tacos. For lunch, the stir fried veggies over jasmine rice elevates this tried-andtrue health food café dish out of the ordinary with a cornucopia of fresh crispy veggies, or try the hardto-find fresh tortilla soup with a green salad or an ooey-gooey grilled turkey and swiss.
The menu changes frequently according to available ingredients and the chef’s inspiration.
Come for the karma. Come back for the food.