Poverello House prepares for opening of Papa Mike's Cafe in mid-January

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Poverello House is taking action to serve and feed those in need - in a new way.

The organization is preparing to open Papa Mike's Café in mid-January.

The tasty tradition was born in 2006, when the dining room would turn into a restaurant for those in need.

"Folks that we serve would come in and have an elevated menu, restaurant-style type experience, but just one meal, maybe once a month, or once every six weeks or so," said CEO Zack Darrah. "The very first time that I ever experienced that, I said 'We have to figure out how to do this every day.'"

Darrah's vision is coming to fruition.

The organization is holding soft openings these next few weeks, ahead of opening day.

He's excited for guests to experience Papa Mike's Cafe.

"Walking in the door, ordering off of a menu, having three to five choices for entrees for every meal every day," Darrah shared. "Once you order -- a full table service."

Action News got a sneak-peek of the menu. It includes The Courtyard Slam for breakfast, a BBQ Burger for lunch, plus loaded fries for dinner. There's also a kid's menu, which comes with a bag of crayons and a toy.

"We really felt like choice had a lot to do with dignity for the people that we serve each day," Darrah said. "Even our tagline for the restaurant is 'Where dignity is the main course.'"

The meals will be cooked in Poverello's newly renovated kitchen, which Fresno County helped fund.

Volunteers will also be a huge part of the success of Papa Mike's Café.

"This is a community restaurant that we all own together, and we need people to come and help us, and I'm confident that they will," said Darrah.

In addition to the restaurant, Poverello House will still cook and hand out thousands of meals to other organizations in town.

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