Jon Bon Jovi Has Brought His Soul Kitchen To Newark

Jon Bon Jovi loves his native New Jersey and he doesn’t discriminate between north and south. Rutgers University get excited the Soul Kitchen is opening in just over a month.

Back in 2012, Jon brought a new vision to life. He wanted to create a space where people could come and have a great fresh meal for $20. If you didn’t have the $20 to pay for your food you had the option to volunteer for your food.

One hour of volunteer work got you a home cooked meal. A super cool concept and one I have never seen before.

With already two locations, one in Toms River and the other in Red Bank, Jon’s Soul Kitchen is catching on in the Garden State.

JBJ Soul Kitchen At Work

This coming January, JBJ Soul Kitchen will be opening its third location in Newark, New Jersey. The new restaurant will be opening on January 22 on the campus of Rutgers University in Newark.

Diners will have the option of paying for their three-course meal which is locally sourced or they can volunteer their time and work for it.

“When you send your kids off to school, you don’t think about, after tuition, books, living, what’s left for food? And so few are on meal plans to begin with. And that’s another reason why they’re eating ramen noodles. We all think it’s the rite of passage – to study hard and eat the ramen noodles. But how about if it’s the only thing you can afford”

– Bon Jovi told CBS News

No guests are ever turned away at JBJ Soul Kitchen for their inability to pay. The menus have no prices on them, guests that can pay are asked to spend $20 for their farm-to-table meal. The money helps to subsidize someone who can’t pay. Further subsidizing includes having people who can’t afford a plate they get to volunteer and do work in the restaurants or out in the fields picking and tending to the crops. The Soul Kitchen also uses mostly donated food.

Jon Bon Jovi On Chew On This

What do you think IMUer’s are you excited for the grand opening of Jon Bon Jovi’s Soul Kitchen in your hometown? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

(Cover photo courtesy of NY Times, videos courtesy of YouTube, Bon Jovi Soul Foundation, and The Chew, source NY Post)