Toast Names Its 2026 Changemakers, Awarding $150,000 to Restaurants Fighting Hunger

Toast, the global technology platform built for restaurant and retail businesses, today announced the 15 restaurants selected as grant recipients of its 2026 Toast Changemakers Program. Now in its second year, the Toast Changemakers Program celebrates U.S. restaurants that bring the same hard work that gets them through a Friday rush to the challenges they see in their own neighborhoods. As a recipient, each restaurant will receive a $10,000 grant to grow their work fighting food insecurity in their community. This year’s recipients come from 11 states and include a Chicago brunch spot, a Baton Rouge food truck, a Phoenix bookstore cafe, and a Michigan brewery. Their programs range from pay-what-you-can plates and neighborhood fridges to food recovery and free community dinners.

Image courtesy of Grassrootz Books & Cafe

As pillars of their communities, many restaurants have always been about more than feeding their paying guests. When they see a family running short on resources, a school program without enough funding, or a neighborhood cut off by a storm, they turn on the burners. Several of this year’s Changemakers have been doing this important work for years: Rosetta’s Kitchen in Asheville has offered its pay-what-you-can Everybody Eats Plate since 2002, and Soul & Smoke in Evanston has provided more than 350,000 meals since 2020*.

Image courtesy of Soul & Smoke

The Changemakers Program is part of Toast’s $5 million, five-year global commitment to combating food insecurity. Applications were open to all eligible U.S. restaurants, including non-Toast customers, and over 400 restaurants applied this year. Recipients were chosen through two rounds of review by panelists from Toast and program partners Hello Alice and Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN). Panelists evaluated each restaurant’s track record, the feasibility and expected impact of their plan for the funds, the creativity of their approach, and how they measure results. 

“Restaurants show up for their neighbors every day, often in ways that their guests don’t even see,” said Aman Narang, Toast CEO. “This year’s Changemakers are providing incredible support to their communities — from stocking community fridges to running pay-what-you-can tables and cooking for their cities after storms — all while continuing to run their busy restaurants. We’re proud to support that work and help this year’s Changemakers reach even more people in need.”

“We’re incredibly honored to receive the Changemakers grant and grateful for Toast’s support of our mission,” said Heather Bublick, Co-Founder and CEO of Soul & Smoke in Evanston, IL. “Giving back has been at the heart of Soul & Smoke since day one, and this grant comes at an especially meaningful time as we prepare to provide Thanksgiving meals to families facing food insecurity throughout Chicago and Evanston. The Changemakers grant will help us reach even more of our neighbors this holiday season.”

Image courtesy of Le Sud Mediterranean Kitchen

All Changemakers will use their grants to expand existing programs: buying ingredients and packaging, adding community meal events, and bringing on more local partners. Toast, Hello Alice and GEN will check in with recipients at three and six months to track outcomes, including meals provided, pounds of food donated, and people served. In a six-month survey of 2025 Changemakers, a majority of grantees said funds were used to increase the number of meals or people served.

Meet the 2026 Toast Changemakers*

Collective Fare (Brooklyn, NY)

Collective Fare, a Brooklyn hospitality & food service company, knows ingredients alone don’t always make a meal. Through Collective Baskets, they help bring nutritious food, recipes, and nutrition resources to families at about 15 New York City public schools. When a family lacks a working kitchen, they also provide cooking equipment like air fryers and cooktops.

Gold Lion Community Cafe (Richmond, VA)

Gold Lion Community Cafe in Richmond, Virginia, serves vegetarian food with Indian flair and believes a meal should be as simple as walking through the door. Their Duke’s Tab program provides roughly 400 free meals a month: same counter, same kitchen, no paperwork. Guests pay it forward, and when donations fall short, the cafe covers the rest.

Grassrootz Books & Cafe (Phoenix, AZ)

Grassrootz Books & Cafe in Phoenix, Arizona, feeds bodies and minds. Their community breakfasts serve an average of 50 families alongside a family reading initiative, and they’re expanding from monthly to weekly. Nothing goes to waste, either: the cafe donates its juice pulp to local community gardens to help grow more food.

Heavenly Crust Pizza (North Richard Hills and Flower Mound, Texas)

Heavenly Crust Pizza brings families together over dinner at its two Texas locations. Through local food pantries and churches, their Family Dinner on Us cards give families facing hardship a night out at the table together. Every night in December, their Santa Pizza program feeds a nominated family at each location, with meals delivered by community members.

J’s Breakfast Club (Gary, IN)

J’s Breakfast Club has served Southern-style breakfast and soul food in Gary, Indiana, for 11 years. Their On Us Tuesday initiative brings meals to local school employees, and after a recent derecho, they helped feed nearly 3,500 people alongside World Central Kitchen and the Red Cross. Next up: a community garden to grow fresh produce and teach residents to grow and cook it.

L’Oca d’Oro (Austin, TX)

L’Oca d’Oro, an Italian-inspired restaurant in Austin, Texas, hosts weekly Pay What You Will dinners: same food, same service, and guests privately choose what to pay. A co-founder of Good Work Austin, L’Oca d’Oro has provided more than 500,000 meals to the city’s school district & transitional shelters since 2020, while advocating for hospitality employees to receive higher wages and benefits.

Le Sud Mediterranean Kitchen (Chicago, IL)

Le Sud Mediterranean Kitchen, a French-Mediterranean restaurant in Chicago’s Roscoe Village, turns dinner out into a way to give back. Through their Table23 program, a portion of participating sales goes to local nonprofits like Common Pantry. Their kitchen team also prepares food donations for Common Pantry and Meals on Wheels.

Mehfil (Asheville, NC)

Mehfil, an Indian restaurant in Asheville, North Carolina, stepped up its hunger relief after Hurricane Helene and hasn’t slowed down. They support Food Connection, donate meals to veterans, and serve free food at outreach events with Eblen Charities. Their annual Helene Week Community Lunch is open to all. In 2025, these efforts provided 1,000+ meals.

Mr. Everything Cafe (Atlanta, GA)

For 33 years, Mr. Everything Cafe has served healthy, cooked-to-order food to the Atlanta neighborhood around the Atlanta University Center. Twice a month, they feed about 120 young men in the Chance 2 Change mentoring program, a commitment going strong since 2018. Next up: a pay-it-forward program that lets guests buy a neighbor a meal.

Rosetta’s Kitchen (Asheville, NC)

Rosetta’s Kitchen, serving vegetarian and vegan soul food in Asheville, North Carolina, has lived by “Everybody Eats” since 2002. Their daily Everybody Eats Plate lets guests pay what they can or pay it forward. Same food, same tables, no questions asked. Through good times and hard ones, their crew keeps showing up with healthy food, served with joy.

Smack Dab (Chicago, IL)

Smack Dab, a queer-owned and managed brunch spot on Chicago’s North Side, believes everyone deserves scratch-made comfort food, regardless of ability to pay. For eight years, their monthly dinners have served over 20,000 free meals. Their daily Mutual Aid Meal feeds anyone who walks in, no questions asked, and they stock their local Love Fridge with dry good staples. Eat good. Do good.

Soul & Smoke (Evanston, IL)

Soul & Smoke, a BBQ spot in Evanston, Illinois, cooks at scale for its community. Their team prepares about 500 meals a week for nonprofit partners and keeps a free, 24/7 community fridge stocked outside their Evanston restaurant. Usable surplus becomes prepared meals instead of waste. Since 2020, they’ve provided more than 350,000 meals.

Todo Un Poco (Elk Grove, CA)

Todo Un Poco, an Elk Grove, California, restaurant serving Mexican and Italian food, puts surplus to work. With Abound Food Care and the California Food Access Alliance, they turn surplus into meals; more than 15,000 pounds recovered and more than 15,000 meals delivered to neighbors.

Tre’s Street Kitchen (Baton Rouge, LA)

Tre’s Street Kitchen, a Baton Rouge, Louisiana food truck and caterer, puts its kitchen to work feeding neighbors. Every month, they provide donated and reduced-cost meals to local schools and area shelters. When hurricanes and winter storms cut off food access, their team shows up with hot meals.

TwoGuys Brewing (Wyoming, MI)

TwoGuys Brewing in Wyoming, Michigan, cooks for its neighbors three times a week. Their Community Meal Program and community cooler offer scratch-made meals, fresh produce, and milk with no applications or questions. Since November 2025, they’ve provided 10,000+ free meals. Local middle schoolers pitch in too, learning knife skills and food safety while prepping meals.

To learn more about the Toast Changemakers Program and this year’s grant recipients, visit our landing page.