Kids eat free at Northside restaurant amidst food uncertainty
Head cook Jennifer Banks prepares for the afternoon rush. She says most families head to the eatery right after school lets out. Photo by Azhae’la Hanson
By Azhae’la Hanson, Reporter
Note: For a full list of meal programs and food shelves in Minneapolis, visit mynorthnews.org
When you pass a plate of soul food, you pass down history, a lineage of taste, and of care. At the heart of the cuisine itself is community, making do with what’s available, often in hard times. Soul food meals are plentiful and meant to be shared.
One Northside restaurant is keeping soul food's legacy alive. Their recipes come from the heart, and so did their latest decision - to provide free kids' meals.
The Food Bank Eatery opened its sit-down soul food restaurant in 2023, following the success of its food truck, which had been operating since 2018. The restaurant is Black woman-owned and run by Nakia Banks and her stepmother, Jennifer Banks. While Nakia runs the front of the house, Jennifer is the head chef.
When the government shutdown threatened millions of Americans' SNAP benefits, the two came together to figure out how to extend a helping hand to their community in North Minneapolis.
Even as the government re-opens and monthly SNAP benefits resume, The Food Bank Eatery plans to continue the free kids’ meals through the rest of the year.
“I've been doing this for a long time,” Jennifer said. “So this right here is nothing new.”
They decided to serve free kids' meals until the end of the year. Kids with an adult can receive a free cheeseburger or hot dog, fries, and a drink.
“The people in the community know that they can just ask, they can just say, 'I'm hungry, can I have something to eat?’ And my mother-in-law is going to feed them,” Nakia said.
The two were disappointed in the common rhetoric surrounding those who benefit from SNAP assistance, one that paints people as lazy and undeserving.
“It's easy to say that people are lazy when you make a lot of money,” Jennifer said. “A lot of those people (who receive SNAP benefits) got kids. Are you telling us that the kids are lazy so, that they don’t deserve to eat? That's not acceptable.”
Jennifer has spent her life feeding people and often goes to West Broadway to give away free leftovers.
Nakia says she started the Food Bank Eatery because her stepmother loved to cook. The secret of their success lies with Jennifer, whose recipes are sacred and kept close to her heart.
Jennifer says she’s always loved cooking and helping people and recalls being called to the kitchen by her matriarchs at an early age. She never left, and neither did the spirit of serving those in need.
The Food Bank Eatery is located at 4707 Lyndale Ave N. The free meals are available Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m.-8 p.m.