JBJ Soul Kitchen Feeds People Regardless of Their Ability to Pay

At JBJ Soul Kitchen, anyone can find good food and good company, regardless of one's ability to pay.

The restaurant — operated by Dorothea Bongiovi, the wife of rock star Jon Bon Jovi — maintains four locations across New Jersey. Patrons can either make a suggested donation of $20 to $30 or pay for their meal by volunteering.

The unique model offers restaurant customers the opportunity to work as servers, dishwashers, or in other positions, allowing them to pay for their meals with their time. But Bongiovi emphasizes that the mission goes beyond charity.

"Ours is a model of empowerment," Bongiovi shared with CBS News Philadelphia. "We're not here to make somebody feel like, 'Oh, I'm giving this to you.' You have earned it."

JBJ Soul Kitchen provides more than meals alone; it also connects people with community support resources. Staff members like hostess Nicole Dorrity help people find secure housing, mental health care, and other services.

"I came out of homelessness in 2017. So, because of my lived experience, I'm able to kind of inherently know some of the barriers somebody might be up against," Dorrity said in a statement to CBS News Philadelphia.

The restaurants have faced their share of criticisms. For example, the mayor of Toms River complained that a lunch program hosted by the restaurant at a local library was attracting unhoused people to the area.

"We did a pop-up in a library. We're giving folks lunch. That's all it is — soup, salad, sandwiches, easy stuff," Bon Jovi said in a statement.

Despite negative sentiments, the restaurants have earned praise for their food quality and have some of the highest ratings on TripAdvisor in two of the towns where they operate. JBJ Soul Kitchen even made the platform's "Best of the Best" list in 2023, placing the establishments in the top 1% of reviewed businesses across the country.