12 Indian Cafes That Offer So Much More Than Just Good Food & Coffee!
With increasing social inequality being one of the major issues in India in recent years, it is time to think about how we can contribute not only to the environment, but also to our society. Be it all by participating in recycling efforts, spreading awareness, contributing to charities or simply adopting an eco-friendly lifestyle.
Indian cuisine is taking some unique cafes on the table, serving sumptuous food for a good cause.
From feeding the needy to offering different things to do, these establishments are dedicated to making the world a better and inclusive place.
So, if you want to help bring a positive change, then have your next meal at one of these 12 Indian cafes,
These are ‘redefining the concept of coffee’ with discretion!
Seva Cafe in Bengaluru, Karnataka
Started by Sushil Nair and friends, Bengaluru-based Seva Cafe S operates on a pay-it-forward ‘basis. It is run entirely by volunteers, who cook and serve food to visitors who pay for contributions already made. He is also invited to contribute to the café to help branches in Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Pune. Imagine a place where, at the end of a delicious meal, you are handed a small handwritten note saying that your meal was a gift from someone you encountered. nature places, nature places in world
Food-on-wall in Malappuram, Kerala
Started by the Malappuram municipality, the food-on-the-wall eateries are part of a unique welfare scheme aimed at providing food to the needy by Ropani in restaurants within and around the city. Those who want to help can become part of the plan by paying for a meal or two at a restaurant that joins the scheme. Food tokens generated by the payment will be hung in a visible and easily accessible place on the restaurant wall. All the poor need to collect the token , paid in advance, from the wall and use it to be eaten from the restaurant.
Kalakkal Cafe in Chennai, Tamil Nadu
Founded in 2012 by NGO Vidya Sagar, Kalakkal Cafe is one of the rare places in Chennai where the handicapped can enjoy leisurely. With a menu in Braille, resistant floors, double colored hand railings and a wheelchair to be able to enter from the ramp, this amazing cafe is truly an all-inclusive space to hang out.
Mirchi and Mime in Mumbai, Maharashtra
A novel and heart-warming social experiment, Mirchi & Mime is a place where food speaks so loudly that the server doesn’t need it. The location is fully supported by staff, listening and speech-impaired waiting, and an easy-to-follow gesture vocabulary is added to the menu. Visitors can only point at their selection and indicate the number of parts! Co-owners, Prashant Issar and Anuj Shah, were inspired by Sanket, a restaurant in Toronto, Canada that is also wait-staffed by hearing-impaired servers.
Sheroes Hangout in Agra, Uttar Pradesh
In a small street near the Taj Mahal in Agra, away among straws shops, is a cafe that has made itself a place of refuge and recovery for India’s acid attack victims. Started in 2014 by Stop Acid Attacks, an NGO that works to empower survivors of acid attacks, the Sheroes Hangout aims to arouse confidence in women by employing them in this cafe. In addition to serving delicious food, the amazing café also sells paintings and crafts made by its employees, and is a gathering place for exhibits.
Cafe Toto in Kolkata, West Bengal
Operated in collaboration with the NGO Tomorrow’s Foundation and the French NGO Life Project 4 Youth (supported by the French Consulate of Kolkata), Toto Cafe employs young adults from disadvantaged backgrounds: orphans, the disabled, victims of domestic violence and others. These youth are trained in English, IT skills, communication, personal skills and cooking by French volunteers over a period of one year. This one-of-a-kind café-school can accomodate 20 people at a time, is open for lunch two to three days a week and also runs a home delivery service.
Pappadavada in Kochi, Kerala
Meenu Poulin, the owner of Kerala’s Pappavada restaurant, decided to fight both hunger and food waste after people removed food scraps from garbage cans. He set up a fridge – named ‘Nanma Maram’, meaning ‘tree of goodness’ – that people could leave food (along with extra food for restaurants) for the poor and homeless. Left and open for 24 hours a day, the fridge feeds dozens of people every day and has become a community center, with people from all over the city donating it.
Cat Studio Cafe in Mumbai, Maharashtra
Founded by animal lover Mridu Khosla, this unique cafe is not only a food joint, but it is also a shelter for rescued cats and kittens, an adoption center and a place where you can enjoy fantasy without any extra cost. Can roam together. About 15 rescued cats – healthy, de-wormed, de-flead and litter-trained – can be found lounging here any day. Adoption is completely free and encouraged after a background check on the adopter. The café team also looks after all the stray dogs in the area; Treating them from feeding to roasting and forgetting even to injury.
Taste of Darkness in Hyderabad (Telangana) and Bengaluru (Karnataka)
Taste of Darkness is a part of Andreas Hennecke’s Dialogue in Darkness initiative aimed at sensitive partners in the dark through tourism and eating experiences. Every employee in this restaurant is blind or blind. As they help you in your tables, serve you food and make sure you have a good time, they open their eyes in the dark to show you that their world is not poor – just different.
Tihar Food Court, New Delhi
Tihar Jail, a rehabilitation effort launched by the Tihar Food Court, South Asia’s largest prison complex, in which inmates have been proven through good behavior during their years in prison. These culprits have been trained in cooking, cooking and serving by the nearest hotel management school under the program ‘Talent to Employment’. With wooden tables and walls adorned with paintings made by prisoners, the sprawling 50-seater restaurant has no iron bars or armed guards and serves everything from sandwiches and samosas to vegetarian dishes.
Nukkad in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, The Tafe
In Nukkad Teefe, Raipur, having a good time just means drinking a delicious cup of tea. This means attending poetry sessions, discussing books with like-minded people, making new friends and communicating in sign language with hearing-impaired employees. Started by Priyank Patel in 2013, this cafe regularly hires only deaf and mute staff members for duties, such as managing orders, handling cash counters and serving customers. Their warm smile, unconquerable spirit and positive energy is what makes the place truly unique.
Writer’s Cafe in Chennai, Tamil Nadu
A beautifully decorated Swiss bakery in Chennai, Writer’s Cafe offers a new lease of life to survivors of burns. Not only does this café employ them, but it also provides training in culinary arts. The owner, M Mahadevan, decided to start this cafeteria after going deep into the Prevention International Foundation for Crime Prevention and Victim Care (PCVC). Started in a tie-up with PCVC, this amazing meal joint is helping survivors wear scars on their sleeves with the utmost dignity and confidence!
