New Deal Cafe
Encyclopedia
The New Deal Cafe is a restaurant and community coffee house
in the historic Roosevelt Center of Greenbelt, Maryland
. It is a rare example of a restaurant operated as a consumers' cooperative
, as it is owned by over 200 member patrons.
The Cafe features performances by regional musicians, and hosts several music festivals each year, including the Green Man Festival, Crazy Quilt Festival, and the Greenbelt Blues Festival. The Cafe walls are decorated with art by local artists. The arts and entertainment activities are managed by the Friends of the New Deal Cafe (FONDCA), a separate tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization.
The Cafe menu focuses on Lebanese cuisine, and includes a variety of vegetarian and meat
items.
The Cafe is a commonly cited example of a "community living room" or "third place", part of the Third place movement.
Its name comes from Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal
, which was responsible for the Cafe's home in Roosevelt Center, and the founding of Greenbelt.
Coffeehouse
A coffeehouse or coffee shop is an establishment which primarily serves prepared coffee or other hot beverages. It shares some of the characteristics of a bar, and some of the characteristics of a restaurant, but it is different from a cafeteria. As the name suggests, coffeehouses focus on...
in the historic Roosevelt Center of Greenbelt, Maryland
Greenbelt, Maryland
Greenbelt is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. Contained within today's City of Greenbelt is the historic planned community now known locally as "Old Greenbelt" and designated as the Greenbelt Historic District...
. It is a rare example of a restaurant operated as a consumers' cooperative
Consumers' cooperative
Consumer cooperatives are enterprises owned by consumers and managed democratically which aim at fulfilling the needs and aspirations of their members. They operate within the market system, independently of the state, as a form of mutual aid, oriented toward service rather than pecuniary profit...
, as it is owned by over 200 member patrons.
The Cafe features performances by regional musicians, and hosts several music festivals each year, including the Green Man Festival, Crazy Quilt Festival, and the Greenbelt Blues Festival. The Cafe walls are decorated with art by local artists. The arts and entertainment activities are managed by the Friends of the New Deal Cafe (FONDCA), a separate tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization.
The Cafe menu focuses on Lebanese cuisine, and includes a variety of vegetarian and meat
Meat
Meat is animal flesh that is used as food. Most often, this means the skeletal muscle and associated fat and other tissues, but it may also describe other edible tissues such as organs and offal...
items.
The Cafe is a commonly cited example of a "community living room" or "third place", part of the Third place movement.
Its name comes from Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
, which was responsible for the Cafe's home in Roosevelt Center, and the founding of Greenbelt.