Although the name hints otherwise, this downtown Toledo restaurant is unique, both in concept and offerings. The SAME Café, located inside the Toledo Lucas County Main Library, shakes up the normal restaurant model, with designs on enhancing the greater good.
SAME Café, an acronym for So All May Eat, operates on a participation based platform — patrons donate time, produce or are asked to pay what they can for a meal. The restaurant’s mission is to create a sense of community with healthy food, made fresh and accessible to everyone.
The Toledo eatery concept is based on the first location in Denver, Colorado which opened in 2006. 16 years later, the SAME Café concept came to Toledo, brought by Toledoans, Steve North and Mitch Magdich visited cafe while on a trip to Denver and spoke to the Denver location about bringing the nonprofit to Toledo. SAME opened its doors in Nov., 2022.
Community of equality
“We’re creating a community through healthy food access, combating food insecurity,” explains Courney Schmidtke, SAME Café head chef, adding, “Isolation issues are also a target. [A] survey [of patrons showed] 90% of the [respondents] said that [the Café provides] a sense of warmth. Many patrons don’t feel as alone as they did before the Café opened.”
The SAME Café model is simple: Everyone is treated exactly the same, whether you are a paying patron or volunteering in exchange for your meal. The restaurant serves soups, salads and pizzas made from produce that is mostly organic and locally sourced. As the produce used is donated, with no assurance of what will be available, the restaurant innovatively creates weekly recipes, with no set menus. Menu offerings have included a Pickle + Carrot pizza, with spinach, marina and mozzarella, a Chickpea + Mustard Green salad with chia seeds, hemp seed, pepper and apple cider vinaigrette and southwest Potato + Vegetable soup with celery, onion and bell pepper.
RELATED: Dog-Friendly Patios: A Toledo Guide
Every weekday from 11 am to 2:30 pm, the Café offers two pizzas, two salads and two soups to choose from, and then patrons can finish off their meal with one of SAME Café’s delicious cookies.
Everyone is someone
“As the head chef, I would personally like to do more (catering), because it is going out into the community and speaking to people about the cafe, and showing them what we’re about,” Schmidkte said. “By showing the type of food that we serve we can bring awareness that even though it’s healthy it can definitely still be delicious.”
Annoni joined SAME Café as their Executive Director in mid spring and loves the sense of community SAME brings to Toledo. “It’s not just providing meals; it’s providing community. It’s creating that sense of belonging for everyone,” Annoni said. “What I love about this model is that everyone is someone. So, I’m very excited to be part of it.”
Patron and volunteer Mark Jackson says SAME Café has brought a lot of hope to the community. “SAME is a spark of light on the bitter darkness we see. People turn their backs on the homeless of the community, SAME always has smiles and good community here.”
Raising Funds
The nonprofit restaurant will be hosting their annual Same Table Celebration on Thursday, Sept. 12 from 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm at One Seagate, where attendees will enjoy delicious food crafted by the SAME Café team as well as several local Chefs, paired with local beer, wine and non-alcoholic drinks.
Tickets to the fundraiser can be purchased on eventbrite.com and have a suggested donation of $75, pay what you can or volunteer in exchange for a ticket. “So it’s not like a fundraiser just for people with money,” Annoni said. “It’s really about embracing everyone, just like the SAME Café.”
SAME Café, on the first floor of the Toledo Lucas county Main Library, is open Monday through Friday from 11:30 am to 2:30 pm. samecafetoledo.org.
