RALEIGH — Eight years after opening in downtown Raleigh, the nonprofit café A Place at the Table continues pursuing an ambitious mission: making sure everyone has access to a hot meal, regardless of their ability to pay.
Founded by Maggie Kane, the restaurant operates as Raleigh’s only pay-what-you-can café. Since opening, it has served more than 350,000 meals while creating a gathering place where people from across the community can share the same space.
The model allows diners to pay the suggested price for a meal, contribute a reduced amount or volunteer time in exchange for food.
“It’s amazing that we are feeding so many people,” Kane said. “But to sustain the mission financially, we need paying customers.”
Inside the restaurant on West Hargett Street, customers from all backgrounds sit side by side enjoying chef-prepared breakfast plates, sandwiches and coffee sourced from local roaster 321 Coffee. Volunteers help run the café alongside staff, while others trade an hour of work for a meal.
The nonprofit also offers a weekly free-meal day for families.
While the approach has helped thousands access food, it also requires a delicate financial balance. The restaurant depends on enough customers paying the full suggested price to offset reduced payments and volunteer exchanges.
When A Place at the Table first opened, Kane said about 70% of diners paid full price. Today, that figure has shifted dramatically, with closer to 30% paying the suggested amount.
To bridge the gap, the nonprofit increasingly relies on donations from individuals and businesses as well as a growing catering operation that helps support the café’s daily operations.
Kane began developing the idea shortly after graduating from NC State University. Early on, the concept faced skepticism from property owners wary of the pay-what-you-can model.
Unable to secure a permanent location at first, the restaurant launched as a series of pop-ups around Raleigh before eventually settling at its current home at 300 W. Hargett St.
Since then, the operation has expanded from a simple prep kitchen into a fully equipped commercial kitchen capable of serving hundreds of meals each week.
Beyond addressing food insecurity, Kane said the restaurant is designed to reduce the stigma often faced by people experiencing homelessness or financial hardship.
“We want people to sit at the community table together,” she said. “And we want people to come in and see the mission.”
Kane believes the need for the café remains strong as many families struggle with rising costs.
“People are living paycheck to paycheck right now,” she said. “It’s not getting any better, so we need to keep places like this.”
