Karma Kitchen

My meal is a gift from someone who came before me, have you heard of this concept? It is a beautiful concept of generosity! Saturday & Sunday morning around 11am the door opens. You order the dishes from the menu. Very welcoming and kind people take your order and serve you food. You eat as much as you want. In the end, you get an envelope, you put whatever amount you want to put in there which will be paid for the next person.
This place runs by volunteer. I have been also one of the volunteer there and try to spare time whenever I can!
Please do visit this place and do spare some of your precious time whenever you can!

When I think about my most memorable experiences at Berkeley, I think Karma Kitchen tops them all. About a year ago in April, I had the opportunity of experiencing «generosity» through «Karma Kitchen.» At this event that occurs on every last Sunday of the month, volunteers from all over the Bay Area come together to prepare and serve meals to hungry customers. The beauty of this opportunity is that all the food is paid for by the customer who ate before you. It is an experiment of «generosity» to see how much one person would chip in for the next person.
The best thing about Karma Kitchen is that you begin as a stranger to this experiment, but you leave with an experience of a lifetime, a participant in a supportive community.
A year later I had the opportunity of working on the other side of this experiment– I actually volunteered to help prepare the food and serve it. Working 5 straight hours without food with a supportive group of friends, I felt that I cleansed away any sense of selfishness I had. From communicating with customers and explaining this «generosity circle,» to serving dishes alongside my friends, I definitely had a blast. It’s safe to say that it was definitely more rewarding when you help serve and spread kindness than when you are sitting as a customer and eating. I definitely think that every one of our 108 customers had an amazing time.
Shoutout to my Circle K peeps who stuck it through with me.

As a patron/​customer, I think the food is, as others have noted, the most bland Indian food I have ever tasted. The naan, somewhat parafoxically, might be the best naan I have ever eaten. I can’t eat any of the desserts or drinks because I don’t eat sugar as a Type I diabetic.
As a volunteer, I volunteered twice. The first time, my experience was okay but I did have to decline the initial assignment given to me. I was told, without asking if I had any preferences, that I would plate food. I knew standing still for about four hours, plating heavy plates would be painful with my arthritis. So the first time, I got to serve.
interacting with the customers was delightful and the volunteers had a skillful manager that day whose energy vibrated through all of us.
I volunteered yesterday and had the single most unpleasant volunteer experience of my life.
Nipun Mehta, founder of Service Space, seems to only let males take lead roles for I have only seen males in lead roles. One young man never had to do any physical work. His only job is to walk around chatting with the customers, which is quite pleasant.
Standing over steam tables, holding heavy plates laden with the many heavy metal bowls I had to fill with food hurt my hands, hurt my back and left me exhausted. I literally collapsed as soon as I got home. I skipped the volunteer meal because i was feeling so poorly. The all male managerment team repeatedly ignored my requests for help.
And one young male server, serving customers not doing manual labor as I was, nagged me when I sat down for some need relief. He would almost hysteriically order me into the kitchen because his customers had just ordered food. When I would say «the other plater an handle two people’s food without me» he would continue to nag me in nervous agitation until I would capitulate to shut him up. Where was the facilitator or day manager then?
A horrific volunteer experience.
The idea is good. The execution uneven. My first volunteer time, when I insisted on a role I knew I could happily execute, was okay. This time, my last time, was horrific.
Poor management.
But you can eat cheap bland Indian food and pay it forward. Somehow I don’t think this is going to create a gift economy. In a gift economy, males and females will be equal and gift workers will be treated with reverence for the service they freely give. Not hounded to work even when in pain.

Every visit to Karma Kitchen is a blessing and an inspiration. I volunteered about a year and a half ago, and then ate here a couple times since KK ended their tour abroad and came back to Berkeley last summer.
Of course, the pay-​it-​forward concept is the biggest draw of Karma Kitchen. The idea is that you received your meal as a gift from a previous customer, and you have the chance to pay however much you want and gift a meal for the next person. The organizers of KK take the money they receive from one month and put it all into purchasing food materials for the next month.
I don’t want to spoil the experience too much for you guys, since you really have to go see for yourself… So here’s a brief rundown of both the eating and the volunteering experiences.
**EATING**
If you decide to eat here, make sure you ARRIVE EARLY (it fills up quickly, and at the peak time the line can be very long and slow).
The food is decent Nepalese/​Indian cuisine. It’s made entirely by volunteer work (no one is getting paid, even those who regularly work at Taste of the Himalayas during business hours). Make sure to order the mango lassi drink, but try not to order too much and waste food!
There’s also a community table, so if you’re feeling brave or curious, don’t be afraid to come alone!
**VOLUNTEERING**
Every single volunteer has bottomless wells of enthusiasm and optimism. There’s a really great vibe going on throughout the kitchen, and despite the fact that we are constantly working (with basically no breaks) for over 3 hours, the energy level remains at an all time high. It’s impossible to be in a bad mood when everyone around you is so supportive. The experience has revolutionized my thoughts and actions in my day-​to-​day life, and I would definitely recommend it for anyone interested in something new and fast-​paced!

Volunteered here twice. It is currently happening the last Sunday of every month. It’s held at the Taste of the Himalayas and the concept behind it is awesome. I’m planning to come here probably next month to eat instead of volunteering.
I love the concept because you pay however much you want because technically you’re paying for the next person. You get unlimited amounts of food.
I volunteered as a server and all the customers know what’s going on and everyone is really nice. Most servers will try to engage in a conversation and talk about the theme of the month.

I came here intending to get a quick Sunday lunch, but the atmosphere, the food, and the people were so right that I stayed a full hour just to enjoy everything. I had the opportunity to meet new, interesting and friendly people at the long table, try out different dishes of very well-​made, delicious food, all the while savouring chai, tasty mango lassi and crisp naan.
I also enjoyed very much the concept of paying forward; it’s nice to know that you are not only contributing a proper amount, but also that perhaps sometime out there in the future, someone will be able to enjoy as good a meal as you did and continue the cycle. As a society, many of us have forgotten the concept of mutual dependence and giving, and it’s nice to have a reminder that it is still possible, even in a city like this :)

Woohoo! is daaang right. Karma Kitchen is back in Berkeley! However, the plan for now is to be open once a month I believe.
I had planned on coming here with a friend nearly a year ago only to find that they were on retreat… which meant I missed out :(. Luckily I had checked out the website and signed up for e-​mail alerts. Lo and behold, about a week before, I get an e-​mail saying that KK would be back in Berkeley on Sunday! Not wanting to miss this opportunity, I definitely made coming here a priority.
And, indeed it was a great experience :). KK is held at Taste of the Himalayas and upon arrival, a man greets and explains what is going on (Essentially, it revolves around a pay it forward concept. Volunteers are helping out and meals are paid by people from previous weeks and such). Then you get seated and all the usual stuff happens (menus/​introduction to waiter). Three drinks to order: mango lassi, chai tea and lemon surprise. On the menu, there are a couple of things to order as well. Best of all, you can just ask to have everything on the menu, so as to sample everything.
I see in past reviews, people talked about slow service. Maybe it was just that day, but we had multiple people come to check on my group’s table and how we were doing. (Granted, this is just from one visit) The food wasn’t the hottest, but I could definitely look past that just because the vibes from the atmosphere were just too good. Taste-​wise, food was pretty decent too. Dessert is included and that was yummy as well. You get a choice of different pies, ice cream, kheer, or this one other dish that I can’t remember. Also, they handed out this sweet pins/​key chains/​cards that were about smiling and being kind.
It was definitely a good experience coming here and if I were staying around the area, I would want to volunteer.
Also, there was a proposal while we were there! Aw isn’t that cuuute :)

I know this isn’t a legit review, but I did want to post this for anyone who is in my shoes.
I planned on visiting Karma Kitchen today, but after calling Taste of the Himalayas (the site for this ingenious pay-​it-​forward restaurant), I found out that Karma Kitchen has been «closed» for 6 months now. It seems that they’re «on retreat» to plan for advancement:
Sad that I didn’t go during my 4 years here :(I hope they reopen soon!

Disclaimer: super biased reviewer as I loooove this place, have eaten here several times and volunteered even more.
I was first intrigued by the principle of this restaurant — my friend told me that we could pay whatever we wanted based on what we thought of the food, service, etc. It was only upon eating here and sitting and talking with my waiter, did I learn that Karma Kitchen was all volunteer run, and that patrons who ate at KK last week paid for my meal this week, and that should I be so inclined I’d be paying for patrons the following week. I loved the «pay it forward» idea way more than you pay for food and service quality — it simply creates a different atmosphere for restaurant patrons.
The fact that all my servers were volunteers changed the way I thought about my meal: instead of complaining about slow service or that my server forgot about my order, I understood that they were volunteers and doing their best. Like what is written on their menu, it’s a shift from transaction to trust. Reading other reviews, I do admit that everything is true — at times people have forgotten about my naan refills (and as a server I can attest that it does get backed up in the kitchen), my food has been served lukewarm (and as a server I’ve been asked to microwave their chai tea or lentil soup). To be fair, I think that Karma Kitchen gets away with these «subpar services» because it is not a typical restaurant in which you pay for food quality and service, instead you come here to eat a meal served by volunteers and take from the atmosphere of karma, paying it forward, etc.
I love the food every time I come, and the naan is hands down the best I’ve had in the bay area. You can have unlimited refills of mango lassi (which does become dangerous) and their sparkling lemon surprise is truly a surprise. All their dishes are vegetarian with a vegan option. I love that they do «order by exclusion» where they give you everything on the menu unless you don’t want something — it’s perfect for me as I love variety and I get to taste a little of all their scrumptious curries (which include palak paneer, aloo banta, channa masala, eggplant with potatoes. of course I only remember the most delicious varieties). All I can say is I really love this place — my usual Unilocal reviews dock stars for food quality, service, and price… but the beauty of Karma Kitchen is that when you shift your mindset from paying for these things to really coming to bask in the atmosphere, I don’t leave feeling the need to dock stars here and there for petty qualms I have with the restaurant, but a renewal of the need to be more generous. Hence, I give this place 5 stars :)

Only in Berkeley will you have an arguably successful (as in still functioning) social experiment like Karma Kitchen, where your meal was paid in advance by an anonymous previous diner. The way it works is that at the end of your meal, you will receive a bill of $ 0 and you can choose to leave whatever you’d like (in a sense paying for the next diner). Note: Only open on Sundays!
The second my friend and I walked in, we were greeted immediately by friendly (volunteer) staff. It was our first time, so they explained the process and idea behind it. We didn’t wait too long to be seated. The menu was pretty straightforward and simplistic in that there were one to two options for each course (there’s dessert!). The chef is hired so you don’t have to worry about potentially weird food. Everything I ordered was delicious. The mango lassi was a great complement to the dish and my friend and I shared a piece of pie with cherry ice cream for dessert. I personally had no issues with the food in terms of taste or temperature.
Besides the food, though, I really think the atmosphere contributed to the overall experience. Yes it’s a weird Berkeley social, hippie-​esque experiment but you develop a strong sense of community and the idea that you’re doing good for the next diner. Our waiter was actually a student volunteer from Stanford and he joked about the rivalry. He also gave us each simple necklaces called ‘Peace Chains’ (refer to added Unilocal photos) with a cute blurb on a piece of paper.
This isn’t the finest food (albeit tasty), but this is a first-​class example of Berkeley culture and I highly recommend that you check it out.

I can’t get myself to give this place any lower than a 3, well because of many reasons. Yes, the food was cold by the time it got to the table, but then again, it’s probably made in big pots in the back and served by volunteers. The service was spotty. We wanted more naan, but didn’t get any more because I think our waiter forgot about us. It’s okay since it’s all volunteer run and I don’t expect the waiters to remember everything.
It’s pretty interesting. You pay as much as you want/​have. They use whatever money they get that week to make next week’s food. When you get the check, it literally says $ 0. I couldn’t have a free meal, so my friend and I paid approximately how much we would have for a meal. Paying it forward is so true. It’s not the best restaurant, but think of it as a feel good restaurant rather than anything else.

Karma Kitchen was a fun and tasty experience yesterday for lunch. The food was delicious, all of it, and sure: there is an air of How Berkeley Can You Be in the air. So what. Absolutely worth a detour.

So Berkeley. Almost an overload for me, and I’m even a native. When we first arrived on Sun ~12:45pm and waited outside for tables to be cleared, the head volunteer came out and asked us all sorts of questions about what paying it forward means, why it is good, etc. I like that they reinforce the motive behind the whole setup, though. Much more casual than the normal restaurant – the three of us ended up sitting cozily at a table for two, but they also sit different parties together at large tables if the smaller tables are full.
The «sparkling lemon surprise» is good, although it tastes just like some carbonated bottled juice drink. The mango lassi is super thick and creamy. Out of the entrees, I like the veggie korma and daal the best, and the naan is pleasantly fluffy. Note: do not agree to be seated in the table in the corner! You will be forgotten! It probably took at least 30 min for the food to come out. We were seated for about 1.5 hours total, a long lunch. We let them forget our second order of naan and just ordered dessert, a large bowl of kheer which we shared. The waiter put the almonds in a smiley face design in the pudding and gave us multiple «smile» cards at the end accompanied by a check stating «A party of 3 served by Love, total $ 0.» Hippie, much? Oh, I can’t help but love Berkeley/​home. I plan on returning not as an eater, but a volunteer.
Pros: warm and fuzzy feelings of community, entertaining volunteer waitstaff
Cons: slow service

I never would have found out about this place without Unilocal!Apparently, every Sunday, the meals are «pay it forward.» There is a set menu (all vegetarian/​vegan), and they serve you everything on the list unless you tell them you don’t want it.
There were three types of drinks: Mango Lassi, Chai Tea, and a sparkling lemonade (loved the mango lassi)
Lots of dessert options: peanut butter ice cream, neopolitan ice cream, blueberry pie, apple pie, kheer (loved the kheer)
Naan/​Rice (loved the naan)
Three types of curry: garbanzo beans, some sort of squash curry, and a potato-​ish one, and also yogurt!
The staff is all volunteers, and everyone here is just super friendly. And at the end of the meal, you choose to pay however much you want, and that money goes out to help feed the people for next week!

Growing in generosity, building a community of kindness. Karma Kitchen is truly an inspiring concept which creates a warm fuzzy feeling on the inside.
Having read and followed their partner sites for awhile, I was looking forward to visiting KK as soon as I could. I wanted to share this special meal with my hubby and when we finally ended up here we felt warmth envelop us.
The pay it forward model of KK allows you to pay as much as you want, and will be used to prepare food for the following week. They serve a vegetarian menu of food that is typical of an Indian household. Some reviewers mentioned the mildness of food, I would say it is typically that spicy and flavorful at our homes as we are conscious about our diet on a daily basis. So the food served here is healthy, nutritious and not loud on the spice, and very tasty.
After they seat us, a volunteer server usually explains the concept of KK and runs you through the menu. The idea is you choose the food you want to omit from the menu on your meal. For ex: hubby didn’t want the chole (garbonzo curry).I wanted to try all the three curries and the raitha.
If you want to try all of the menu, that’s perfectly fine and you can try more than one drink. The mango lassi is absolute perfection! The raita is refreshing and the curries have the right blend of spices and flavor, and the naan is soft, fresh and right off the oven.
They had many desserts on the day we went. However, we were too stuffed to try any of them. There was a singer from Haiti who performed a song for us which he wrote for his mother. Another guest brought flowers in celebration of spring and gifted it to the volunteers as it was May 1^st.
The theme of the day was what is the best advice we received and we shared it with the volunteer.
Do not miss the joy of kindness through a meal!

We came here on Sunday for lunch because I realized my Living Social deal for Taste of the Himalayas was expiring on ³⁄₃₀.
«Hello, welcome to Karma Kitchen. Have you been here before?»
«Uh, I think we’re in the wrong place. We were looking for Taste of the Himalayas.»
«Oh, this is it. On Sundays they run an experiment in paying it forward called Karma Kitchen. Reduced item fixed menu. All the servers are volunteers. The kitchen staff is from Taste of the Himalayas.»
«Uh. .. umm. .. OK»
Deal redemption plans were shattered since I wasn’t about to try and foist a Living Social deal on this rag-​tag bunch of overly-​happy volunteers. Is Café Gratitude closed on Sundays?
But I digress.
I was saddened to see that the items appeared to be more from the Indian side of the menu. The g/​f was gladdened to see they were all vegetarian. You can also order drinks and dessert. For drinks you can get mango lassi, Lemon «Surprise» drink and Chai tea is the third option. Seconds? Apparently just ask.
Big plates of food. 3 veggie curries. Basmati rice. Small bowl of raita. Lentil soup. ½ naan each. I took a picture, but my Android phone froze and then rebooted. D@MN YOU GOOGLE!
First off, the naan was awesome and you can get it plain or buttered. It’s thicker and fluffier than what I’m accustomed to. Delicious. I thought 2 of 3 curries (peas and garbanzos) were very good, but the squash & potato curry (minus the potatoes which they ran out of?) was pretty bland. They mentioned running out of potatoes so I don’t know if they just threw something together with extra squash or if this was the original dish just minus taters.
Overall we were very happy with the food though we skipped dessert because the positive energy was too overwhelming. Yeah, I’m a grouch. Sue me! ;-)

Karma Kitchen has a good thing going on here. They go by the ‘pay it forward’ principle, in which last week’s patrons have made a donation to make your meal this week possible. After you’ve enjoyed your meal, it’s time for you to make a donation to those who will be eating here next week. And so on and so forth.
The staff is friendly and all volunteers of this program. The menu is strictly vegetarian with some vegan options. The typical menu consists of:
3 dishes (daal, aloo matar, palak paneer)
3 drinks (refreshing fruit surprise, mango lassi, chai)
rice (brown or white)
naan (buttered or non-​buttered)
raita
3 desserts (ice cream, pie, kheer)
Portions look small when they come out, but actually really filling and just right so that nothing is left to waste in the serving bowls. Plus, if you really are hungry for more, you can ask. Food is not gastronomically superb, but pretty run of the mill fare.
They promote a good vibe and send you on your way feeling great.

What!?! Did I see that right??? My bill says $ 0. How’s that possible??? I had a full meal with second helpings of the vegetables and desserts.
Perhaps they made a mistake…
Well, guess what!!? Its not a mistake! :) This because customers are not paying for their meal, they are free to pay what they wish for the next person who comes in, a person they may not know. The idea is to pay-​it-​forward. Please check out the Karma Kitchen website for more information.
Karma Kitchen is volunteer run service. Every Sunday, volunteers enjoy working together and serving everyone that show up for some delicious vegetarian and vegan meals between 11:00am and 2:00pm.
I have eaten here and served as well. I must say that both experiences were fantastic. When I ate here, the Maitre’D show sat us at our table was friendly. He explained to us the philosophy of Karma Kitchen (Pay It Forward). Gave us a little story on the history of Karma Kitchen, its sister locations.
Usually they have some or the other fun themes going on ever Sunday, the volunteers are a bunch of amazing amazing people… great spirit, very nice to talk to and interact with.
The chefs also volunteer every Sunday to cook up a sumptuous lunch with all their love!
You should definitely visit this place at least twice!
1. To enjoy the food
2. To enjoy the Pay-​It-​Forward philosophy, sheer energy and vibrant atmosphere that Karma Kitchen is all about…
Cya Sunday!

I read about this place about 3 months ago and finally got a chance to stop by since we were in the area. We loved the pay it forward concept and applaud the effort that is made to keep it sustainable. Everyone except the chef there are volunteers which is refreshing as they all want and choose to be there for no other reason than the sharing of their time.
Menu is completely vegetarian and the first plate alone should fill you up quite nicely leaving you barely room for the choice of dessert which ranged from pies to sorbets to rice pudding. The main dish included a small lentil soup, squash curry, garbanzo beans with spiced gravy, and what is similar to a saag paneer but with peas. Unfortunately my dish was missing the cheese cubes so it was just peas. We had the mango lassi which was great and could’ve probably used another glass.

We had been wanting to try KK for awhile and finally got a chance on Sunday. We got there a little early in anticipation of a line but we were the first ones there. When the doors opened a few minutes later about six of us eagerly walked in.
We were greeted by the host who made us all feel welcome.
Our server, Richard, said it was his first day but he did an excellent job
in explaining the menu and taking our orders.
All dishes are vegetarian, with some vegan.
I hadn’t realized that you are served everything you want from the menu.
My husb got the Vegan version which included:
Rice
Dal
Peas Dish
Spinach dish
I got the same dishes plus a vegetable biriyani
We also got a basket of naan-​that was served pipping hot.
The portions are modest but you can get seconds on everything.
This is probably a good plan to avoid waste.
Husb got seconds and I got seconds on just the dal.
For drinks H got the Lemonade Surprise (lemonade with berry juice)
A little tart but nice.
I got the chai and a Mango Lassi. Both were perfect.
We had the choice of three desserts (tropical fruit sorbet, strawberry sorbet or keir (rice pudding). We shared a strawberry sorbet which was quite satisfying.
The food was tasty but not exceptional. I loved the concept of «Pay it Forward» along with the nice ambiance and friendly service.
I’d definitely go here again,