Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Dining ~ Friendship Cafe, Providence

Friendship Cafe
500 Broad St.
Providence, Rhode Island
223-1700
7:00am - 2:00 pm

On Good Friday, a group of friends and I (and Bear) met for lunch at Friendship Cafe. It's situated in the 500 Broad Street building, right at the corner of Broad and Friendship Streets, in south Providence, a neighborhood undergoing revitalization.

Friendship Cafe

The restaurant is a division of Amos House, an independent social service agency in Providence that provides a soup kitchen, financial and housing assistance, detox and education. As one of the businesses run by Amos House, they employ graduates from the Amos Culinary Education (ACE) program.

It's a bright, clean friendly place with light wood floors and tables, energetic orange and soothing green.


Friendship Cafe interior


Much of the interior woodwork was done by another Amos House WORKS business, Amos House Builds, by graduates of Amos House's Carpentry Training  (ACT) program.

The staff was friendly and welcoming, and we soon found ourselves comfortably accommodated. Once we'd all arrived, we had our meals delivered quickly. The menu is breakfast all day, and lunchtime comfort foods, including weekly specials. They also have sweets. Everything is made on-site out of fresh, local ingredients.




Thanksgiving wrap on whole wheat
I ordered the Thanksgiving wrap (turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce on whole wheat wrap). These came with "Friendship fries." It was excellent. The turkey was fresh and the stuffing was clearly homemade. No sage-flavored bread paste, this was the real deal, with bread cubes and all.

Pulled Pork sandwich
Bear loved her pulled pork sandwich. It was "smoky and savory and everything that's good about life," she declared. It was the best pulled pork sandwich she'd ever had.

Two of our companions tried the fish and chips. Both were happy with their choice.
Fish & Chips

Another of our friends tried the chopped salad, which was very nice-looking indeed.
Salad

A word about "Friendship fries." Apparently developed right in their kitchen by one of the chefs, they are regular fries with a mix of spices. I'm not sure what it is, but it adds a tasty zing. Normally I dislike cilantro, but although I could taste it in the seasoning, I still liked it quite a lot.

We were fortunate to have Mike McCarthy stop at our table to chat. He's the business manager of Amos House WORKS, the umbrella for the Amos House businesses (Friendship Cafe, Amos House Builds and More than a Meal catering). He gave us a lot of information about the cafe and catering business (did you know they supply meals to several local schools?).

Bear and I agree that Friendship Cafe is a place we'll come back to time and again, as well as a place to bring out-of-town guests.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

That was a great write up.

boliyou said...

Thank you!

Kathie Manchester said...

It was a great lunch date and the food was perfect! I would definitely go back there again.

boliyou said...

I agree Kathie! Good friends and fun were really enhanced by the atmosphere.

JennLeeGroup said...

Great lunch! Where shall we go next. Your pictures were really great too!

boliyou said...

Thanks Jenn! Good question: where SHALL we go next?

Michelle Quillin, New England Multimedia said...

I loved the idea of eating at a place that helps those who work there, or helps the community in some way. Shall we go there again, or does anyone know of another place that does the same?

Erika, thanks for writing this up!! I missed out, huh??

~Michelle

boliyou said...

Michelle, you were missed and fondly remembered over lunch. I hope your car is better!

I don't know of another place like this - in fact, I think they claim to be the only.

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