A Seat for Everyone: Maggie Kane & A Place at the Table

In this episode of Oak City Move, I sit down with Maggie Kane, the passionate founder of A Place at the Table — Raleigh’s first pay-what-you-can café. Maggie shares the inspiring journey of how she created a space where everyone, regardless of income, can enjoy a warm meal in a welcoming environment.

We dive into the power of radical hospitality, the importance of dignity and accessibility in addressing food insecurity, and the everyday impact of community-driven solutions. Maggie’s story is one of bold compassion, big vision, and a deep belief that everyone deserves a seat at the table.

Whether you’re interested in social entrepreneurship, food justice, or just love hearing from changemakers in your community, this episode will leave you feeling full — in more ways than one.

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Creators and Guests

Host

Sophs Magnanini

What is Oak City Move?

A radio program and podcast from WKNC 88.1 FM HD-1/HD-2 celebrating those who enact positive changes in the Raleigh community.

00:00
Sophia Magnanini
Oak City Move is a podcast on WKNC's 88.1 FM HD 1 Raleigh where we highlight people and organizations creating positive change in the Triangle and beyond. Oak City Move can be heard on air every Other Monday on 88.1 FM HD1 Raleigh or online at wknc.org Listen for episodes and more information, go to our blog at blog.wknc.org or follow us on SoundCloud at wknc88.1.

00:33
Sophia Magnanini
Hello, 88.1 WKNC Raleigh. The song you just heard was House of mango by surf ninja3. I am Sophia Magnanini, your host and you're listening to Oak City Move. Today we're joined by a very special guest, Maggie Kane, founder and Executive director of A Place at the Table, a non profit cafe where everyone is invited to have a wonderful dining experience regardless of means. First off, I just wanted to say thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to join me. Thank you. If you wanted to start by introducing yourself and your role at A Place at the Table.

01:00
Maggie Kane
Awesome. Yeah, thanks so much for having me. So exciting. When I was in school, I don't think at NC State, I don't think we had a podcast. So this is really exciting to be here with all of you. Yes, I am Maggie Kane and I'm the founder and executive director of A Place at the Table rally's first pay what you can restaurant.

01:16
Sophia Magnanini
That's awesome. And for listeners who may not know, can you kind of go into the mission of A Place at the Table and how does that kind of work?

01:25
Maggie Kane
Totally, yeah. It's such a confusing thing. Like when people hear pay what you can, they're like, what? What does that even mean? So you have to come see it to really see it in action. But we are a restaurant in downtown Raleigh. We look and feel like a normal restaurant, any restaurant. You go into some of my favorites. I was always at Global Village or Jasmine when I was in college and we look just like that. You walk in, you see fun photos on the wall, you hear good music, you smell good food. It's only until you get up to the register where it starts to look a little different. At that point, you've seen suggested, you've seen signage for volunteers. And so that's what. Pay what you can.

02:00
Maggie Kane
That's the, that's the difference in a normal restaurant is all of our prices on the menu are pay our suggested prices and pay what you can. So you can choose to pay that price. You can pay more and pay it forward for someone else who can't afford their meal. You can pay less. We know that some weeks are harder than others and all you can afford is less. And that is fantastic. That is great. If you can't pay less, you can volunteer with us. So we see a lot of folks coming in and volunteering for their meal. We also feed, if you are a fan family, so there is a guardian and a child. We feed families for free once a week so you can come in with your family, eat indignity and enjoy a meal with us once a week.

02:37
Maggie Kane
And then we also have place cards. These place cards get handed out all across town in lots of different non profits including Feed the Pack food pantry at NC State. So you can come in and get a meal with us with this place card. It looks like a credit card or gift card and all you have to do is just hand it in for your meal, pass it over and you can get your meal of choice. So again we are like a normal restaurant like any of us would go to if we can afford it. But all of our prices are suggested and so you really can get, you can get that avocado toast or that waffle and then pay what you can for your meal.

03:11
Sophia Magnanini
I didn't know about the people can pay more extra for someone. Yeah, that's really cool. And I feel like.

03:17
Maggie Kane
Yeah. And people do it all the time. And it like I've really realized that this community is so generous and so kind and people pay what they can all the time or people pay it forward all the time. And for us, our staff, we have a paid staff, about 25, they make a living wage so we don't take tips like most restaurants. And so our staff will hand the, you know, hand the iPad over to you and they'll say that all tips are donations and they go right back into paying it forward. So even if you just tip, you're paying it forward for someone else.

03:46
Sophia Magnanini
No. That's awesome. And I bet that just does so much to build the community and bring it all together and helping so many people are like going into it, being a part of it and that's just really cool. What would you say like a typical day at the cafe looks like?

04:01
Maggie Kane
Every day, Every day is different. Every day is different. Every day is, is so unique and so interesting and just literally the best thing ever. We are open Tuesday through Sunday from 8am to 2pm so we're breakfast and lunch. We serve breakfast and lunch all day. And another Part of our mission that I'll say that kind of tells you how the day is our mission is community and good food for all, regardless of means. So we use good food. Our food is phenomenal. So we have everything from really huge and delicious sandwiches to fresh salads to soups of the day to all, you know, breakfast plates and burritos and so. So we use that good food as a tool towards creating community. So bringing people together.

04:45
Maggie Kane
So whether you're eating together, so you'll see on every typical day you'll see people just like snacks, eating together at community Table and sitting next to each other, you'll also see folks. The other way we build community is by volunteering together. So you can come in and volunteer for your meal and about 100 people a day do it. But we also see lots of folks that sign up online to volunteer or they have a weekly shift with us. We have a lot of NC State students that have a weekly shift with us and everyone gets a meal. Everyone does the same thing, but you'll just see lots of different people floating around the restaurant, chatting, engaging, hugging. I have a, I have a good friend that always says Table is the place with the most hugs per capita. Per capita.

05:25
Maggie Kane
So you always see people hugging, always see people just like, yeah, having good conversation together. So it, every day is different but in general each day you'll see lots of folks engaging in relationships and community. You'll see lots of folks eating. You'll smell really awesome food. Like our food is phenomenal, our team is phenomenal. And you'll see us just running like a normal restaurant.

05:47
Sophia Magnanini
What kind of does the volunteering look like? Because I know there's probably different forms and if you could kind of explain some of that.

05:54
Maggie Kane
Yeah, totally. Sure. So anyone can volunteer and we'd love to have you. You can show up at any time in the day from 8 to 2 and volunteer and get a meal or not get a meal, doesn't matter to us. We're going to offer it to you anyway. So you can show up at any time and we'll check you in. Our awesome team will check you in and get you situated in our system and then you can also sign up online. So we have a, a form online that you can just sign up, pick a three hour shift and come in and volunteer with us at that scheduled time. Also, same thing, you'll check in when you get there, we'll get you situated somewhere and then you also can pre schedule and have a weekly or bi weekly schedule with us.

06:32
Maggie Kane
So we've had 100 people that also have a weekly or bi weekly schedule with us. They come every Tuesday from 8 to 11. So all three ways to volunteer, everyone is doing the exact same thing. They are, they are whatever we need to at that moment. So, so our team will say, hey, we need someone in the dish room or we need someone sweeping. Which one do you want to do? Hey, we need someone bussing tables. We need someone delivering coffee to tables, the coffee station. So we have, we, we typically give you an option if there's different things that are available. But everyone is given the same thing. There's no hierarchy on volunteering. And the coolest thing is that like you don't know who volunteered for their meal and who didn't. Everyone gets a meal, no questions asked if you want one.

07:15
Maggie Kane
And everyone gets the same option whether you want to pay less or volunteer. So it's a really cool way to just be amongst people you would never have met.

07:24
Sophia Magnanini
No. Yeah. I can only imagine just the amount of different people coming in every day. The regulars that are coming in like weekly, that's just so cool. Also gives them kind of a sense of normalcy and just a lot of like really a safe space.

07:38
Maggie Kane
It really does. It's, and it's been that way. It's been so cool to be able to build relationships with all different people and see things that have happened out of connections and community. I'm a big believer that community is everything and we need community in our lives. And so it's been so cool to see, you know, what's happened in community.

07:58
Sophia Magnanini
I totally agree. And what initially drew you to starting this?

08:03
Maggie Kane
Yeah, amazing question. So I graduated from C State and at the time I was volunteering at a day shelter, working with folks on the street. I was, I was a part of campus ministry at NC State. And so while I was there we had heard about this day shelter and I got involved and I started volunteering there. And when I graduated, several folks from the day shelter came to my college graduation and I said, okay, this is what the work I need to do. This is the work I want to do. So started, you know, took a job over at the day shelter and saw that while, you know, there were great places, great non profits for people without money, and then there were great places for people with money, right? Restaurants, coffee shops, bars.

08:45
Maggie Kane
But there was no place that welcomed everyone to come together in one place. So started researching. I found the pay what you can system and said, okay, if other people can do this, then we certainly can too. And. And started building it and we opened four years later, so we opened 2018.

09:01
Sophia Magnanini
That's awesome. Because it's not only are you hoping to impact these people, but then they are also impacting you in such a very. Not satisfying way, but a very comforting.

09:11
Maggie Kane
Yeah.

09:11
Sophia Magnanini
And it's just.

09:12
Maggie Kane
Oh, they do for sure.

09:14
Sophia Magnanini
Are there any.

09:15
Maggie Kane
I get. I get just as much out of it as anyone who comes in for a meal. It's. And so does our. I think our whole team would say that too. It's been. It's truly been such a gift.

09:24
Sophia Magnanini
Are there any kind of special stories or a moment that really captured the heart of what a place at the Table is?

09:29
Maggie Kane
I mean, a thousand stories. How much time do you have? We have so many stories. I. I mean we. We see so many individuals, so many families, so many folks that come in and it really affects both sides of the coin here. Like, it affects folks with means and it. Folks, people without means. But I'd say, you know, I, I just. Being a place for folks that are really lonely has been really such a gift to me and such a gift to so many people. We. We. One in particular that I'm thinking of, he started volunteering with us right when we opened and he really wanted a meal. He wanted to eat and he was hungry and so he'd volunteer with us and then he would get a meal. And then, and then as soon as he started meeting people, he.

10:13
Maggie Kane
He would start volunteering for like three, four, five hours. And then we'd offer him a meal. He wouldn't really want one. He wouldn't really care about it. And then pandemic hit. We closed and he. We were doing curbside and just doing the food. We never saw him. He never came in because he just said, I'm good, and would walk by. As soon as we reopened inside for volunteering, he came back and he started volunteering again, started joking, started laughing with our community. And I think what we realized in that moment is this was this place, this is community. And, and without community there we have nothing. And so we have a thousand of those stories. And it's just been really like, special to be a part of it.

10:55
Sophia Magnanini
I. That is probably is just such a. Once again a safe space and all these people are coming here that at first we're just thinking that like, oh, I'm able to get a meal here and meet, but then they end up Meeting all these different people and it turns to kind of like their family, the community. And that's just. That's really special.

11:12
Maggie Kane
Yeah, it's been so cool.

11:14
Sophia Magnanini
Why do you think it's important to create spaces like this in downtown Raleigh and beyond? I know were saying there's so many reasons, but also, I know, like you were saying before, the community of it all.

11:25
Maggie Kane
The community, yeah. I think there's a ton of reasons to create spaces like this. I think, you know, in life, what we realize at Table is people are food insecure and they are hungry. Right. But people are really community insecure and searching for people in their lives to support them, to. To be there for them, to love them. And I think that is everything. I think if you have support in your life, then. Then you can do so many things. And so that's really what we've learned. I now, in every part of my life, are trying just to create a place at the Table for people, whether it be, you know, in a local sports league or whether it be in a church community.

12:02
Maggie Kane
I mean, I just think people are looking for connection, and it's what makes our lives so full, like, wholeheartedly full. And so I think just community is really important because I think we've really realized as the years have gone on, especially in the pandemic, that people are lonely.

12:16
Sophia Magnanini
Oh, I totally agree. Because just having somewhere that you feel welcomed does so. Does so much for someone, especially during, like, the pandemic. I know you're talking about that earlier.

12:26
Maggie Kane
Yeah.

12:26
Sophia Magnanini
What were some of the challenges that you guys had to face while going through that? Or were there other challenges before then or afterwards, too?

12:34
Maggie Kane
Yeah, we faced a ton of challenges during the pandemic. We had to go. We did not want to close down, so we just went curbside and we ended up serving upwards of 400 people a day and just pushing out meals. Just the number of folks that were hungry and then the number of folks that were lonely and just needed someone to talk to. That day, we just saw that skyrocket. So that was really. That was really intense and really tough. I think our team, you know, a lot of folks were at home and. And, you know, we're doing work from home jobs or in school. Our team had to show up every day, and. And that was hard, too. Like, that was hard on our team who were afraid of this pandemic and. And getting sick.

13:12
Maggie Kane
And so that was hard, but so well worth it. And we. We all were. So we're super grateful that we got to do it. and I mean, I just think the unknown in general was really hard. We didn't know how long we do it for. We had to. We had to knock off a huge piece of what we do, which is volunteerism, which is community building. And so. So that was really hard because that's a part that we. We love so much. And. And we just couldn't do it temporarily. So Pandemic definitely brought a challenges and we are glad that chapter is over.

13:42
Sophia Magnanini
Yeah, that was probably a very important part for so many people dealing with isolation and being able to get what they need and you guys providing. Very important. Very important.

13:53
Maggie Kane
Definitely.

13:54
Sophia Magnanini
Where do you see the cafe or the broader pay what you can movement going into the future?

14:01
Maggie Kane
Love it. I hope it continues to grow. We have great pay what you can cafe mentors. Some have closed, some have continued to stay the, you know, say the track, but stay on the track. But. But we get reached out to maybe once a month from someone else wanting to do this. And so we talk to a lot of people wanting to start these across the country. And I will be very excited to see it happen and very excited to see it continue to grow across the country. I think it's. It's difficult because restaurants in general are really hard to operate and run financially. And then you add a nonprofit restaurant on top of it, a place that's giving away a ton of meals. So it's. It's really difficult. So it's.

14:46
Maggie Kane
It definitely takes a unique community like Raleigh to open one of these, but I. My hope is that it will continue, and I think it will. I have good friends in Charlotte who are doing this. I have good friends in. In Durham who are eventually going to do this. So fingers crossed that it continues to grow because I think it's really catching on that people need communities like this.

15:06
Sophia Magnanini
Yeah. I feel like the community part is just such a big part of it also. But do you think. I know that we have. You have. Yours is in downtown Raleigh. Do you ever think of branching out and creating more in different towns?

15:18
Maggie Kane
Absolutely not.

15:19
Sophia Magnanini
No.

15:19
Maggie Kane
No.

15:20
Sophia Magnanini
One is enough.

15:21
Maggie Kane
One is enough. We always think that would be a great idea. And then we're like, no, because. Not because we don't want to do it, but because the Raleigh. Like I said, the Raleigh community created this. And for us to go do it somewhere else, it wouldn't be authentic to who we are as a community. We don't know what Durham's like. We don't know what Greensboro is like. But other people do. And so if we can help you create it, if we can pass you the tools that we learned, then you're like, then I'm sure you will be way better off starting it. Creating a beautiful community. Exactly. What with what your community versus us. And so we just realized that, like, Raleigh has figured out Raleigh and let us help you figure out your. Your community.

16:03
Sophia Magnanini
Yeah, I think that's an awesome idea because then it's just kind of like a network that expands and then hopefully it'll just city to city. This will be something that's kind of almost normalized in the future.

16:13
Maggie Kane
Correct.

16:13
Sophia Magnanini
And people can find that community wherever they want, as well as find somewhere that they can have food where they won't have to be really struggling to pay for it.

16:23
Maggie Kane
Exactly, exactly.

16:24
Sophia Magnanini
And if someone. If the people listening right now want to get involved, whether they're like, donating, volunteering, or just like stopping by, how can they do that? I know you're talking about coming in and then also on the website.

16:37
Maggie Kane
Yeah, visit our website. Table Raleigh.org. We're also on social media at Table Raleigh. So come in, come check our stuff out, Come see us, come eat with us. There's. We have online ordering. We have a donate page. We have lots of different ways for you to get connected. So we would love to see you. And so please, yeah, check us out. And we're in downtown Raleigh at 300 W. Hargitt St. 8 to 2. So come eat with us. I promise you the food is good and you will not regret it.

17:07
Sophia Magnanini
All right, perfect. And you're saying your hours, you guys are Tuesday to Sunday.

17:12
Maggie Kane
Tuesday to Sunday. Exactly. Closed Mondays.

17:14
Sophia Magnanini
Have you. What's like, the impact of the community that you've seen? Like a change that the cafe has.

17:20
Maggie Kane
Kind of given, for sure. We certainly have fed a ton of people. So we see anywhere from 100 to 200 people a day that are getting a free or reduced meal, reduced price meal, a pay what you can meal. But then I. I would just. Again, it goes back to that community. Like, we've just seen so many connections made. Jobs that have been, you know, gotten friendships that have been developed. It's been really neat to see that part. And then, you know, then it sparked conversation across the country. So with different folks wanting to do this work, which. Which is also an awesome part of the impact that we don't talk about enough. So I think it's. It's more impact than we ever thought was possible.

18:03
Sophia Magnanini
No, that's amazing. And when you're with all these people, and you're seeing meeting all these people and all these different stories, as well as just your staff. Who. Who inspires you, whether it's like in the team or just the whole broader nonprofit space is like, oh, my God.

18:22
Maggie Kane
Who doesn't inspire me? So many people, but I would say my staff for sure. They. I'm the one that gets to be on these podcasts and chat with folks. They are the ones that are in the cafe right now doing the work. So this. Our staff is like the best around. And so it's. It's really every day they inspire me to better and to keep, you know, working hard at continuing this mission and making it even, you know, more beautiful than we started. And so definitely our staff.

18:52
Sophia Magnanini
That's awesome. And outside of staff, I know you're talking about some other businesses. What are some of, like, the local Raleigh community, like residents businesses, other nonprofits that kind of help work with you guys? If there are any.

19:06
Maggie Kane
Oh, my God, how many? So many. You can see them all on our website. We have, I mean, probably over 30 nonprofit partnerships that we work well with, like, frequently on the phone, frequently talking to, like, supporting back and forth, and then, I mean, hundreds of businesses. Whether folks are catering with us, whether folks are donating to us, we have a huge number of corporate relationships and individual relationships that continue to support us. I, you know, I always say that what's so cool about a place the Table is. It's Raleigh's cafe. And so truly, we could not do it without the Raleigh community. So from folks dining, donating, volunteering, they're helping make a place to Table happen. And it works.

19:48
Sophia Magnanini
No, that's awesome. Because what you guys are doing for not only the people, but for other organizations so they can help out and have that sort of kind of satisfaction.

20:00
Maggie Kane
It all things.

20:02
Sophia Magnanini
And thanks.

20:03
Maggie Kane
We love it. It's the best.

20:05
Sophia Magnanini
How. How do you guys celebrate, like, milestones or like success stories within your team in the community? Or is it kind of just an ongoing?

20:13
Maggie Kane
Ongoing. So many successes. I mean, we do a ton of shout outs. We do a lot of. We're so lucky because we get to do free desserts. So we have a lot of huge pastry department or team. So we always like, you know, any big milestones, you get a cinnamon roll, you get a cookie, whatever. So we celebrate that way. We sing Happy Birthday. We like the whole cafe sings Happy Birthday. So we do a lot of various things to celebrate. Our team is a. Is a big celebrating team. Our staff close once a month and we, you know, just either celebrate, do something fun, do some sort of training. So we are. We're. We're hoping. Yeah, we're hoping that we can celebrate more. Life gets so busy, but we love celebrating things. It's a great question.

20:59
Sophia Magnanini
It's nice to just kind of sit back, especially when everyone is taking so much time out of their life and day to make this such a possibility. And it's. It's also. It's just so awesome. The community. Once again, I feel like community is going to be a very repeated community, but community it is. Yeah.

21:16
Maggie Kane
Community is everything. So it should be a repeated word, you know?

21:21
Sophia Magnanini
Exactly. And as we're kind of. We're kind of coming up towards the end and. Are there any kind of upcoming events or campaigns, seasonal programs that you'd like to highlight?

21:31
Maggie Kane
I think no upcoming events or campaigns, but I would say. I would say just coming to the cafe. We'd love to see more folks coming in that don't know about us. I would say we have. We do have some fun things going on. We're doing a coffee and conversations once a month with the city of Raleigh, so we're highlighting one important conversation so each month. So last month we did Pride Month. The month before that we did a mental health one. So we're. We're constantly trying to think of relevant conversations that we all should be talking about. So you can see those on our website and social media as well. But really just getting folks in the cafe is what we're looking for.

22:08
Sophia Magnanini
No, that's awesome. And I feel like I definitely am going to try and come or check that out.

22:13
Maggie Kane
Yes, you have to come.

22:15
Sophia Magnanini
I have never been and I have always heard about it. My parents go a lot and so they do.

22:20
Maggie Kane
Oh, fantastic.

22:21
Sophia Magnanini
They've gone. They used to go a lot when I was kind of. Not like a couple years ago, but okay, it's. It was really cool and they were really excited.

22:30
Maggie Kane
Tell them to come back. You have to. You have to come eat with them.

22:32
Sophia Magnanini
I know. Yes. I feel need to. Need to try out and try out the food.

22:37
Maggie Kane
We would love to see you. We would love to see everyone. Like I said, the food is really good and we just changed our menu, so everything is brand new. The coffee is awesome. We use black and white roasters from Wake Forest, so we would love to see y' all in there.

22:51
Sophia Magnanini
No, perfect. And as we come up on the end of our chat, I just want to thank you again for coming in and chatting with me about your organization. All that you guys do for the community. It's. It's amazing what you guys are doing, honestly. And thank you all for listening to Oak City Move once again. I'm your host, Sophia Manganini, and if you're interested in listening to this episode again or to past episodes of the show, you can go to wknc.org podcast and make sure to tune into our show every other Monday on WKNC, 88.1 FM Raleigh. Have a great day.