Seva Café Launches in Long Beach

What is it?

"Imagine a restaurant at which you aren't allowed to pay your bill but can agree to pay the bill of a party seated in the future. And your bill was paid for by someone who ate there before you arrived. Such is the idea behind the Seva Café in a high-end shopping district in Ahmedabad, India." - Fast Company Now

Who is it?

The concept of Seva Café was introduced to several Los Angeles based volunteers of Be The Causein their December 2005 service vacation to India. Having experienced "living is giving" first-hand, they returned to the U.S. deeply touched by the generosity of the Indian people and inspired to pay it forward.

After several discussions, phone calls, and email exchanges through the first few months of 2006, BTC volunteers felt extremely confident that the time was right to finally open a Seva Café here. However, in spite of the push to make it a reality, the question remained, "Would it work here?" The LA area, while a melting-pot of cultural diversity (nearly 150 languages are spoken in the area), is also vast and spread out, making it a challenging place to open a Seva Café. After a brief search, the perfect location seemingly appeared by chance.

Where & When is it?

Royal Cup Coffee Shop
994 Redondo Ave,
Long Beach, CA 90804

As a start, the Seva Café will be open from 5PM to 10PM each Saturday night
for 3 months, from July 15th to October 14th. For Opening Night only, July 15th, please RSVP at sevacafe [at] bethecause [dot] org or 760-280-8073.

Why only Saturdays and Why at the Royal Cup?

It's all we can handle right now. Partnering with the Royal Cup we have the opportunity to experiment for a three months trial period. This way we can see how much support this concept has in the community, and to see if this model can be sustained long-term. Sunday through Friday, the Royal Cup operates their venue as a regular coffee shop with a much larger menu and of course, prices to all their meals.

What's on the Menu?

For starters we are offering Gourmet Vegetarian Sandwiches, Soups, Deserts and Drinks. In a few weeks volunteers may start bringing their own recipes and we will probably start having a different theme for each night. All items will always be vegetarian.

What if someone doesn't pay or gives just a nickel?

If someone chooses to only give a nickel, we don't believe anyone would treat him or her poorly. Giving from the heart should be just that, with absolutely no strings attached.

In the end, the meals are never free. Even if someone walks away without paying, they have left something on the table simply by being a part of the experience. I would say that making the choice to not leave any money behind, and not participating in a responsible way is probably the highest cost to ones own self. The reason why we serve is for our own benefit, the reason why we give is for the same reason. If a person walks away without paying and even for an instance they reflect on their actions, that reflection, to us, is all the goodness that this person can afford. From our end, however, we are here to serve unconditionally, the worst case scenario for us, is that we would have fed someone with all of our love, to us that is a great bargain.

Where does the money go?

The Seva Café is not designed to make money, but in the case that it does, we will help offset any loses incurred at the original Seva Café in India. If money is left over after that, we will retain 25% for the future longevity of this project, 50% will go to a charity called Manav Sadhna that provides care to over 6000 slum children every day in India, the remaining 25% will remain with Be the Cause (BTC) as a discretionary fund that they can use to support charitable projects.

Photo by emdot via Flickr