Big Big Table

What Big Big Table does

Big Big Table Community Café is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit operating a single-location pay-as-you-can restaurant at 272 Hudson Street in Buffalo, New York's West Side. Founded by chef Mandy Bailey after she traveled to Denver to study the One World Everybody Eats community café model, the organization provides scratch-made meals to all community members regardless of financial means, positioning itself as a dignified response to food insecurity and social isolation rather than a soup kitchen. The café operates four days a week (Tuesday through Friday, 11am to 2:30pm) with a lean staff of 1-10 employees and a Board of Directors including President Dana Epstein, Secretary Allison Hyman, and Treasurer Matthew Taboni.

The core product is a complete lunch consisting of an entrée, small plate, and dessert, with a suggested donation of $16. Diners contribute what they can financially, through volunteer time, or via in-kind donations. Adjacent offerings include Lunch & Learn sessions for small groups, a food rescue program partnering with local growers and farms, and a volunteer program that requires no prior restaurant experience. Strategic partnerships include Plato Dale Farm (local sourcing with a dedicated donation fund), Farmer Pirates (composting), community fridge partners, and the WNY Growers network, alongside membership in the One World Everybody Eats national network.

Revenue is generated entirely through donations across three streams: pay-as-you-can meal contributions, monetary donations via the GiveButter platform (one-time or recurring), and in-kind donations of food, kitchen supplies, and seasonal wishlist items. The organization holds GuideStar Silver Transparency 2024 recognition and was named 2024 Community Café of the Year by Table Magazine. Operating geographies are limited to Buffalo, NY, with no evidence of online ordering, delivery, or additional locations.

Name

Big Big Table

Legal name

Big Big Table, Inc.

Website

https://bigbigtable.org

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Big Big Table is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit operating a single-location pay-as-you-can community café in Buffalo, NY, serving scratch-made lunches to all community members regardless of financial means through donations, volunteer time, or in-kind contributions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Food Services

NAICS

Restaurants and Other Eating Places (72251)

SIC

Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810)

akta.pro primary industry

Farm-to-Table & Contemporary American Restaurants (THAFACAF)

Keywords

• Community cafe services
• Pay-as-you-can dining
• Nonprofit food service
• Food rescue programs
• Community meal programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Buffalo

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Pay-as-you-can meal donations: Diners contribute money in an amount meaningful to them, with suggested $16 donation for complete meal. Some pay more, some pay less, and some contribute through non-monetary means.
2. Monetary donations: One-time or recurring financial contributions through GiveButter platform. Donations support daily operations.
3. In-kind donations: Donations of food items, kitchen supplies, cleaning supplies, and seasonal wishlist items. Includes Amazon Wishlist donations shipped directly to the café.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Big Big Table runs a pay-as-you-can community café in Buffalo, NY serving scratch-made lunch to any guest regardless of ability to pay, supported by a food rescue program that salvages surplus ingredients to reduce waste and costs. Operations are supplemented by community volunteer engagement, in-kind donations, monetary donations, and educational community events such as Lunch & Learn.

Product overview

Big Big Table operates as a single-location pay-as-you-can community café offering scratch-made lunches to all community members regardless of ability to pay. The organization functions as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with a participative model where guests contribute financially in any amount, volunteer time, or provide in-kind donations. Core offerings include the lunch café service, food rescue operations, volunteer programs, and educational Lunch & Learn sessions. Fundraising channels include monetary donations via GiveButter and a designated farm fund with Plato Dale Farm. The café sources ingredients locally and emphasizes community connection over charity.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Pay-What-You-Can Community Café Lunch

Quantifiable outcome

• Addresses food insecurity and social isolation through dignified dining

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Plato Dale FarmcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLongtime partners at Arcade, NY who have created a fund allowing farm-to-table enthusiasts to contribute directly to Big Big Table's Plato Dale ordering account. Farm provides local vegetables, meat, and eggs.
• One World Everybody EatscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational network of community cafés founded by Denise Cerreta. Big Big Table is a proud member of this network.
• Farmer PiratesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFood rescue partner that composts eggshells and veggie scraps from the café, diverting waste from landfills into soil amendment for local farms.
• Local food rescue groupsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborates to utilize supermarkets' ugly-but-delicious produce so no good food goes to waste.
• Community fridge partnersminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWhen surplus goods exist, café stocks community fridges or shares extras with café visitors.
• WNY GrowersminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborates with growers throughout Western New York to capture unsold market produce or bumper crops and transform excess into farm-to-table meals.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Emerging players

• Rethink Food NYC: New York-based nonprofit that produces and distributes restaurant-quality meals to food-insecure New Yorkers using rescued ingredients and a network of chefs. Comparable in pairing scratch-made cooking with food rescue, though it operates a delivery model rather than a sit-down café.

Direct peers

• SAME Café: The Denver-based community café where founder Mandy Bailey trained before launching Big Big Table. Operates the same pay-what-you-can, dignity-first restaurant model under the One World Everybody Eats network, making it the most directly comparable peer in mission, mechanics, and customer experience.
• Food for Soul: Nonprofit founded by chef Massimo Bottura operating Refettorio community kitchens that turn surplus food into restaurant-quality meals for socially marginalized guests. Shares the dignified-dining, food-waste-reduction, and radical-hospitality DNA that defines Big Big Table.

Others

• One World Everybody Eats: National network founded by Denise Cerreta that Big Big Table belongs to. Functions as the umbrella enabling organization providing model guidance, peer community, and shared brand standards rather than as a direct competitor.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/BigBigTable
• Instagraminstagram.com/bigbigtable
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/big-big-table-community-cafe

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Big Big Table