Serving Good Meals With Dignity

From the sidewalk, the storefront window of Masbia in Rego Park, Queens, looks like one of many eateries in the neighborhood. But this restaurant-style kosher food kitchen is designed to offer a free hot dinner to people in the community who cannot afford a meal.

“Dinner was delicious,” says a middle-aged man, who wished to remain anonymous, on a recent evening. “Really good. No complaints. A well-balanced, nutritious meal. As someone who only has one meal a day, this really hits the spot.”

The Queens site, which opened in March, is a collaborative effort between Masbia, a nonprofit organization, and Met Council on Jewish Poverty, a beneficiary agency of UJA-Federation of New York. It is one of four community kitchens in the Masbia network that also serve the Brooklyn communities of Borough Park, Flatbush, and Williamsburg.

“I was surprised there was a place like this, and the food is so good,” continues the man who had enjoyed his meal. “Because usually you don’t think something that is free will be good.”

“It’s not too easy right now,” he adds. “Two years ago, my wife died. I was laid off. I’m an accountant, trying to work part-time and per diem now. I didn’t have much money for food after I paid the rent, electricity, and medical bills — I have a bad heart. And if I did have the money left over, I couldn’t afford food as good as this — only pasta.”

And it’s not just the quality of the food that diners appreciate.

“Everyone gets treated with respect and dignity,” says a woman who came for an earlier dinner that evening. “It’s a safe and comfortable environment. It’s always clean here. The staff is meticulous about that, and everything is up to par.”