The Café 458 Experience
Located in the Old Fourth Ward at 458 Edgewood Avenue, Café 458 is an award-winning restaurant offering gourmet menu selections on Sundays for brunch from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The chef is a Le Cordon Blue Culinary School alum, with a knack for adding his own special twist to traditional favorites. Signature brunch dishes include Southern Comfort French Toast, Shrimp & Crab Benedict, Chicken & Waffles, and Black Bean & Egg Sandwich.
Café 458 also offers special menus for Valentine’s Day, Easter, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, and can accommodate group reservations and catering requests.
All proceeds from Café 458, including tips, go directly to support the Atlanta Center for Self Sufficiency (formerly known as Samaritan House of Atlanta), a nonprofit agency whose mission is to help homeless men and women achieve self-sufficiency – It’s truly a delicious cause!
History of Café 458
While Cafe 458 is open to the general public for brunch and dinner, it also serves as the city’s only restaurant for homeless individuals during weekday mornings. The idea of opening a restaurant for the homeless originated with co-founders A.B. Short and Bob Freeman. Their vision was to create a warm, caring environment that fostered a sense of dignity and respect among the men and women who ate there. They felt strongly that it should be located near the Martin Luther King Jr. Center because of Dr. King’s vision of justice for all, and because of the large number of homeless people using services at Grady Hospital. As luck would have it, the opening in 1988 coincided with the Democratic National Convention, and Café 458 received national and international attention. Since then, Café 458 has been replicated throughout the country and abroad.
In contrast to classic soup kitchens, meals at Cafe 458 are provided by “reservation only” to men and women who have been referred by another social service agency. Café 458 offers its homeless guests a true dining experience just like a fine restaurant. Guests are greeted by a host as they come in and are offered a menu from which to choose a healthy noontime meal. Volunteers serve as cooks and wait staff, and are encouraged to interact with guests whenever possible. Guests are also permitted to invite family and friends to dine with them twice a month, which helps them develop and maintain supportive relationships.
For many of our guests, the lunch they receive at Café 458 is their only balanced meal of the day, and for far too many of our guests, it is their only meal each day. A choice from the menu, however, is simply a starting point in the process of empowerment at Café 458. Each guest also receives personalized case management to help them meet their goals for self-sufficiency. Potential guests participate in an intake interview and set achievable goals. Our case managers help guests navigate through the system to obtain benefits (such as VA, SSI, and/or SSDI), and access medical care and mental health services that will help them become self-sufficient.
Additional supportive services offered at Café 458 include on-site substance abuse and dual-diagnosis support groups, financial management workshops, a clothing closet, laundry, secure storage space, counseling, Community Voice Mail, telephone access, and a mailing address. Café 458 also continues to support its graduates through an aftercare program that invites them to dine at the Café twice a month and attend life skills workshops.
Atlanta Center for Self Sufficiency
Cafe 458 is managed by Atlanta Center for Self Sufficiency, a nonprofit agency whose mission is to empower homeless individuals in the Greater Atlanta community to achieve economic self sufficiency and their ultimate potential to thrive in life. Annually, Atlanta Center for Self Sufficiency offers services to over 700 men and women through three core programs: Cafe 458, a life stabilization program and restaurant for disabled homeless men and women; CareerWorks, an employment readiness programs that support homeless individuals in their efforts to find full-time permanent employment; and the Clean Street Team, a transitional employment and training program which engages homeless men and women in various beautification, grounds maintenance and cleaning projects throughout the metro Atlanta area. For more information about Atlanta Center for Self Sufficiency and our programs, visit www.atlantacss.org.