Skip Cooking for Thanksgiving This Year — With Help from the EAT Cafe

Some of us love to cook and show off our dishes. Some of us, though, absolutely hate it.

So if you’ve been assigned a side dish or a dessert for the Thanksgiving dinner you’re headed to this year, do yourself a favor — let the EAT Café take care of it. They’re part of the group that falls under the “loves cooking” category during the holidays.

“Some of my earliest cooking memories involve making Thanksgiving dinner with my father,” said Valerie Erwin, general manager and chef of the EAT Café. “Whenever I make those traditional dishes, I am transported back to my childhood and a warm kitchen filled with delicious aromas. These memories take the ‘work’ out of working.” 

Not only is the EAT Café Philadelphia’s first full-service, pay-what-you-can restaurant, but its food is top-notch. And while the Café may be closed for Thanksgiving this year, its chefs — Erwin and Margie Felton — are cooking up everything but the turkey for customers to take out for their Thanksgiving meals. And every item sold will go toward the Café’s ultimate mission of feeding those who need a little help.

“We make delicious, carefully crafted food at EAT Café,” Erwin said. “We are offering food for purchase as a service to our guests who appreciate well-prepared food. Buying these products at the market rate allows EAT to support its mission of providing meals to the food insecure members of our community.”

All orders need to be placed by Sunday, Nov. 19. Everything will be ready for pick-up at the Café — at 3820 Lancaster Avenue, Philadelphia — Tuesday, Nov. 21 (between noon and 6 p.m.) and Wednesday, Nov. 22 (between noon and 8 p.m.).

Full details and ordering are available at this link, but those interested can order:

• Mashed potatoes (Author’s note: First-hand knowledge that these are great)
• Stuffing
• Green Beans Almondine
• Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon
• (Vegan) Sauteed Greens
• Macaroni and Cheese
• Candied Yams

Each dish is available in two different order sizes: small (serving 4–6 people) and large (serving 15–18). The small is available for $15 each ($20 for the macaroni and yams) and the large can be order for $40 ($55).

Options like giblet gravy, cranberry relish and cranberry-balsamic vinaigrette will be available by the pint for just $8 each.

And the all-important dessert options include:

• Pecan Pie ($35)
• Sweet Potato Pie ($25)
• Apple Crisp (Small, $25; Large, $55)

Even with the Café closed for Thanksgiving, it will continue to feed families who need a little help. With the help of customers, it will donate full meals, spanning from the turkey to the stuffing and pie, to families in need.

With roughly one in every four Philadelphians struggling with access to food, Thanksgiving meals are barely a thought for man in the city. So with need as incredibly high as it is, donations to the Café can make a huge difference.

Every donation of $80 feeds a family of four, and every $150 feeds a family of eight. Anyone can donate through the link. 

“Food insecurity doesn’t stop for a holiday,” Erwin said. “I want to offer people not only food, but celebratory food that they can share in their own space with their friends and family.”

Order online here.