Vegan Restaurant Café Gratitude Adds Black Lives Matter Bowl to Menu to Raise Donations for Organizations Combating Systemic Racism 

Vegan restaurant chain Café Gratitude is replacing its signature menu item, the Grateful Bowl, with a new Black Lives Matter Bowl as an initiative to fight systemic racism in the United States. The new bowl will feature kale, black beans, garlic tahini, served atop a choice of brown rice, quinoa, or a mix of both. Café Gratitude will donate approximately $8 from every $13 bowl—retail value minus food costs—to social justice organizations Black Lives Matter Los Angeles, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Fair Fight Action, and Equal Justice Initiative. The donation will not have a maximum cap and the initiative is ongoing. 

“Over the past few weeks, we have witnessed a revolution in our country and around the world,” Café Gratitude said in a statement. “The injustices experienced by the Black community have begun to be realized and acknowledged. Calls for real action and change are not only appropriate, they are needed. We recognize and agree that words are not enough, and that this is a movement—not a moment.” 

The chain will add the Black Lives Matter Bowl to all four of its California locations as they reopen, with the Venice outlet scheduled to open first on June 16 followed by Larchmont on June 18, with the opening date of the remaining two locations (San Diego and Los Angeles’ Arts District) to be determined.