Opening February/March 2010

Local Sprouts Cafe will be a community gathering place that offers delicious local food at affordable prices in a comfortable environment.   Our menu will feature local and organic breakfast, soup, salads, baked goods and entrees.   We will offer fair-trade coffee, herbal teas, local beer, organic & local wines and meads.   We will be open from morning to night and will host performances and events at night.

 

Local Sprouts Cafe will be Portland's first Community Supported Cafe, where people can become members of the cafe through putting down money up front that gives them a credit to order off of our weekly pick-up to-go menu or purchase food at the cafe.   Local Sprouts Cafe will also be open to the general public to come in and eat delicious local food.

 

Our food comes from urban gardens in Portland and local farms in Maine.  Our goal is to grow sustainability through connecting our urban community with the food they eat and with the farmers who grow their food.  Through Local Sprouts Cafe we will support our creative green economy in Maine.

 

Menu

Local Sprouts Cafe's menu will feature seasonal local food year-round.  We will offer a brunch menu all day with egg dishes and sandwiches, buckwheat pancakes, local meats, homefry potatoes & hash. At lunchtime we will add soups, salads and more sandwiches to our menu.  At night we will offer a few additional entrees while still offering the daytime menu.  Our menu will feature "comfort food" that is accented by influences from other cultures, by fermented foods, and our creativity.  We will also offer food for vegans, vegetarians, and people with allergy along with meat dishes.

 

Atmosphere

Local Sprouts Cafe will have a comfortable family-friendly atmosphere. We will have counter-service for all orders, and our counter staff will bring food out to customers or customers will pick-up food from the counter.  We will have an open kitchen so that our customers can see their food being cooked. There will be a mixture of tables, couches and chairs to accommodate people eating, drinking coffee or beer, working on projects or meeting.  We will have a small bar for people to eat and drink at. We will offer free wi-fi so that people can work on laptops at the cafe.  There will be rotating art shows on the wall and we will have a creative environment.   There will be a small stage for performances and a screen to show films.

 

Price Range

Most of the food on our menu will be $10 and under.  We want to create a menu that is accessible and has options at different price levels.

 

Values

Local Sprouts focuses on using local and organic ingredients to build connections to our community, to grow sustainability, to support Maine farmers, to protect our environment, and to build our local economy.  We are a worker-owned cooperative that believes in creating a democratic and equitable business to serve our workers and our community.