Appetite For Change started simply: listening, cooking, and eating with Northsiders to see where we fit. With over 30 fast-food restaurants lining West Broadway, we knew we wanted to create a space for real people to come together and enjoy real food, as all of us at AFC believe food brings us closer.
It was through this belief that Breaking Bread Cafe was born. Our doors opened in 2015 to provide our neighbors a communal place to gather and bond over delicious soul food; the menu carefully crafted to celebrate our roots, with flavors of West African, Cajun, and Low Country cuisine intrinsically interwoven.
Over these past eight years, the cafe has proudly served over 455k meals to our community as Appetite For Change has evolved. At first, this was solely through the social enterprise itself and our Community Cooks workshops. However, when we temporarily closed in 2020, we shifted our focus, transforming it into a hub for meal distribution. Through it all, Breaking Bread has been a place to celebrate where we came from, where we are, and where we are going.
“We take our role in the Northside neighborhood seriously, and it’s very bittersweet to announce the closing of Breaking Bread Cafe on August 25. At the same time, we are excited to announce our new Breaking Bread food truck to continue to serve cafe favorites,” states Tasha Powell, co-founder and President of Appetite For Change. “We will increase our focus on catering operations, so people can support our mission while enjoying the delicious food we are known for. We will continue our garden sites, youth and family-based programming, Station 81, and West Broadway Farmers Market. We are also happy to share: we received a $1.5 million investment from the Minnesota legislature to support our journey toward that permanent home.“
Senator Bobby Joe Champion was the chief author in the Senate of the 2023 Capital Investment bill to secure the funds to support AFC’s efforts to select a site suitable for their forever home. Representative Fue Lee authored the bill on the House side.
Powell adds, “Breaking Bread Cafe has been a critical part of AFC’s role in the neighborhood, but our work has never been about just a physical brick-and-mortar cafe, but about building a movement to celebrate the beautiful North Minneapolis community and turn our vision where access to wholesome food is no longer controlled by zip code and financial means into a reality. As a native Northsider, this has deep meaning for me.”
While Breaking Bread Cafe is going mobile, we will take our same delicious, made-from-scratch recipes on the road thanks to the generous food truck donation from the non-profit We Nurish.
After years of requests for neighborhood meal service or event-based community meal distribution, AFC’s food truck will allow us to continue participating in community meal events and distributing community meals to individuals with transportation barriers. Additionally, we are driving our focus on Breaking Bread Catering so people can continue to support our mission while enjoying the delicious food we are known for.
Breaking Bread Cafe’s final day is scheduled for August 25, with special celebrations planned for August 21-25 to honor the connections and impact made in the space that has served as an important community hub since its 2015 opening. More details are to come, and we are enthralled to have you on this adventure with us!
For Breaking Bread Food Truck sponsorship opportunities, contact sandy@afcmn.org.
To pre-book our Breaking Bread Food Truck Catering for your event , contact catering@breakingbreadfoods.com.
Read more about our cafe to truck transition:
- Bring Me The News – Appetite For Change to close Breaking Bread, launch it as food truck as it seeks forever home
- Axios Twin Cities – Restaurant Roundup: The Cafe Meow leaves Minneapolis, Seward Cafe reopens and more
- Twin Cities Business – Breaking Bread Cafe to Close August 25
- Star Tribune – Breaking Bread Cafe in Minneapolis to close as it looks for a permanent home
- North News – Breaking Bread Cafe will close its doors Aug. 25
Support our food truck endeavors by donating to Appetite For Change today:
