KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Thelma’s Kitchen, a pay-it-forward cafe at 31st and Troost, is ready to welcome in the community for the first time in years.
The restaurant — which is part of Reconciliation Services, an organization that offers a variety of social and mental health services — reopened its dining room in July after big renovations.
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Volunteers help chef Natasha Bailey and her team prepare crave-worthy lunches in one of the space’s two kitchens.
The menu the day we visited included southwest bowls and sandwiches.
“I love supporting the local food system; so farmers, mushroom growers. We just try to utilize as much local produce as we can,” Bailey said of the menu you’ll find at Thelma’s Kitchen.
Bailey also pointed out the kitchen strives to include vegan and gluten-free options.
“Our food is comfort food. It is literally the best lunch in Kansas City,” said Fr. Justin Mathews, CEO of Reconciliation Services. “So when you come in and you pay $1 or you come in and you pay $100, everybody eats and everybody eats with dignity together.”
The hope is customers will pay for their meal and pay it forward to feed others who can’t.
COVID-19 led Thelma’s Kitchen to pivot to a walk-up window and catering.
But now, for the first time since 2020, the bright, renovated dining room is open.
“Unfortunately, COVID, like many other restaurants, we were shut down, but to be back open again and to have the promise of such a bright future now in this renovated building is such a good feeling," Mathews said.
You’ll still see a painting of Thelma, one of the co-founders of Reconciliation Services, watching over it all.
“Our mission is to cultivate a community that’s seeking racial and economic reconciliation to reveal the strength of our community," Mathews said. "One of the things that our community needs is not just social services and trauma therapy, but beauty and community, and a place to gather and affordable retail.
"So we created Thelma’s Kitchen in order to welcome everyone together — rich and poor, Black and white, east and west side of Kansas City — in order to share a meal, build community and pay it forward."
And they could use your help creating these meals, too.
“We run on volunteers,” Bailey said.
If you’d like to volunteer, you can sign up online.
“At some point, we all need a helping hand, and I just feel lucky I’m able to be there and give people dignity because our big thing is choice, to come in and choose what you get,” Bailey said.
In just the first week back open for dining, Bailey said there were about 150 people per day who needed help with a meal.
“Being back in that is, it can be overwhelming,” she said. “But it also feels really fulfilling to know that if this is the one meal you get in a day, it’s actually going to be nutrient-rich for you, and it’ll stick to your bones and get you through.”
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