St. Anthony’s Dining Room
“Nowhere else can you go find a community like this, one that has been forged one meal at a time.”
Who we serve
In San Francisco, one in five adults lacks the resources to provide food for themselves or their families. In the Tenderloin district, that number is as high as one in two. At St. Anthony’s Dining Room, we help to offset this lack of basic sustenance by serving over 1,000 hot meals each day.
Many different types of people eat in our Dining Room, such as veterans, seniors, the working poor, homeless and low-income residents, recent immigrants, recent parolees, and the mentally and addictively ill.
How we serve
Welcoming each guest with dignity and respect is fundamental to the Dining Room’s meal service, and the Dining Room is a community. Whether in a residential hotel room or on the street, 83% of our guests live alone, and the Dining Room is a place to share stories and smiles. We accept any and all people who come through our doors to eat. More than one-third of our guests rely on these meals as their only source of food each day, and many must decide between paying their rent and purchasing medicine before budgeting for food.
This year we will serve more than 2,000,000 pounds of food. 75% of that food is donated or provided free by our community partners. As a model of environmental stewardship, our Dining Room composts or recycles 70% of all program waste.
Who makes it possible
Alongside individual volunteers, student, church, and corporate groups volunteer daily. The men in our Father Alfred Center Addiction Recovery Program help to prepare each day’s meals. An outreach team is also present to provide guidance to guests who would benefit from other St. Anthony’s programs and services. In addition to the regular meal service and in collaboration with the San Francisco Food Bank, the Dining Room hosts a weekly food distribution program that provides groceries to hundreds of low-income San Francisco residents and seniors.
Hours and Details
10:00am to 1:30pm – Open to everyone, including seniors and families with children.
Our Dining Room continues to serve hot, nutritious meals every day, even during the COVID-19 pandemic.