The Table’s meatloaf sliders with watermelon salad and Parmesan fries.
Wouldn’t it be a wonderful thing if every restaurant followed the pay-what-you-can model of The Table in Portland? What if Vincenzo’s or Jeff Ruby’s, for example, made its menu pricing variable depending on what the diner could afford? Or offered creative alternatives like putting in a few hours serving tables or helping out with kitchen chores? Or invited you to pay your tab forward so someone else could take a seat at the table?
Yeah, I know. Not. Going. To. Happen.
But the Table – and a few other compassionate eateries around the region and the nation – stands as a shining light in a harsh world divided by growing income inequality.
Perhaps this approach is one of the reasons why LEO readers selected The Table as Best Restaurant in West Louisville in this year’s Readers’ Choice Awards. But it’s not the only reason. Add an interesting menu, exceptionally good food from local sources, eager service, and a pretty old brick building that’s been attractively renovated.
The dining room’s vibe is down-to-earth, a mix of exposed brick, rough wood, exposed wooden rafters, and pale-green walls. Heavy rough-grain wood tables are set with flatware in paper napkins; non-alcoholic drinks come in glass canning jars.
The Table describes itself as a non-profit, social entrepreneurship, operating under a pay-what-you-can model that makes it accessible, and welcoming, to everyone without regard to their ability to pay in cash. “Everyone,” they declare, “has a seat at our Table.”
It’s open only for lunch Mondays through Fridays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. You’re invited to pay the full menu price if that’s comfortable for you, or even add, in lieu of a tip, a “pay it forward” bonus toward another diner’s meal. Or you may pay less than the menu price, or pay nothing at all if that’s where you are right now. And no matter what you pay, you’re also welcome to volunteer service time to cover your own share or pay for a neighbor’s meal.
No matter what you pay, you’ll find the menu surprisingly affordable, and the dishes, while limited to soups, salads, sandwiches and sides, are as creatively imagined and carefully put together as you might expect of a pricey bistro. ...
Read it on LouisvilleHotBytes,
http://www.louisvillehotbytes.com/table-does-well
You'll also find this review in LEO Weekly's Food & Drink section today.
http://www.leoweekly.com/category/food-drink/
The Table
1800 Portland Ave.
708-2505
tablecafe.org
facebook.com/tableKY
Robin Garr’s rating: 91 points.
Noise level: A happy buzz didn’t hinder communication during a busy lunch hour. (Average sound was 74dB, the level of normal conversation.)
Accessibility: A tall step bars wheelchair access to the main entrance, but a ramp and level entrance are available at another door a short way west. The restrooms are accessible.
