SAN ANTONIO — Do you like 'comfort food'? I'll bet you do! Who doesn't? I do! We all do! And that's exactly what you'll find at San Antonio's Comfort Cafe off Bandera Road.
"Our food is so fresh," said co-founder Rosie Lopez. "Wednesday we go shopping, Thursday we prep and we serve Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and then we repeat the next week so it is always consistently fresh."
One of the first things you'll notice glancing the menu is that there are no listed prices for any dish. There's a reason for that. It's all part of the Serenity Star Recovery concept of Comfort Cafe. Their cook and wait staff are all working while working to recover from drug and alcohol addictions.
The suggested donation for any plate is fifteen dollars, but once customers interact with staff they usually open hearts and wallets for much more than the suggested thought.
"Wouldn't it be nice if they (customers) get to make a decision on if the meal is good," said Rosie. "I mean I've people drop one thousand dollars on a burger because of the whole concept."
The menu is fabulous, in my opinion, and off the charts tasty. From different egg 'scrambler' combinations to just about any french toast and pancake flavor creation you might imagine, it's all prepped by employees working to get into the mainstream of society post addiction.
"I never ever thought in a million years that I could say anything but drugs and alcohol," said employee Amanda Sisk. "We wanna create this safe environment for people to recover," said Rosie. "What better to introduce and have relationships with other people than at the kitchen table," she added.
It's really amazing when you think about it. Getting people back on the right side of life all while creating the most amazing 'comfort' dishes for breakfast, lunch and brunch.
"Our guests get to see the faces of recovery," said Rosie. "Looking at that food is artwork."
I taste tested three of their most popular breakfast items, the Crab Benny, their signature stuffed french toast topped with apple pecan sauce and their pumpkin pancakes topped cream cheese drizzle and candied pecans. And lemme tell ya, it was all AWESOME!
Check out Comfort Cafe on Bandera Road and support the Serenity Star Recovery program at the same time. It is quite the WIN WIN.