In December 2003, Jeff Williams dreamt he was walking around a restaurant. He saw a blend of people from different walks of life, all ordering off a menu without prices.
He soon realized the restaurant in question was his.
The dream continued for 10 years until he founded his first “pay what you can” Christian nonprofit program Taste Project in 2012. He opened his first location, Taste Community Restaurant, in Fort Worth in 2017.
Jeff Williams connected with members of the city and was shown the building that would become the Arlington location on 200 N. Cooper St. While the building wasn’t given directly to him, he said he received a generous 10-year lease and partnership from the city in 2022.
The restaurant celebrated its opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on March 3.
At Taste, customers can pay what they can afford, what they’d typically pay elsewhere or a little more than they usually pay.
“Our mission is to feed, educate and serve our community,” Williams said. “We’re all about service. We’re all about building community.”
He said they buy their own food, source local and organic first, and work hard to keep their menu interesting by changing it seasonally.
From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, people can come in as often as they like. Julie Williams, Taste board member and Jeff William’s wife, said attendees are encouraged to RSVP online so chefs have time to prepare meals. Walk-ins are always welcome but will most likely have a wait time.
The restaurant is 80% volunteer-based, employing about 25 volunteers daily in the Fort Worth location.
“We’re trying to create a place where people can participate and serve to meet the community’s needs,” Jeff Williams said.
Sarah Zawatski started volunteering at Taste about three and a half years ago. She said the connections she has formed bring her back.
“Serving people and putting smiles on their faces, I get smiles put on my face as well,” she said. “Even though I’m serving somebody, I feel like I’m taking more away than I’m giving.”
Volunteer Pamela Harms said what makes the nonprofit special is you can pay with your time by volunteering and passing meals along to the next person in need. She said Taste makes volunteering easy and people can sign up anytime.
“The way that [volunteers] care for people outside of the meal that they’re serving them,” customer Sam Nofziger said. “They take an interest in building that personal relationship with them.”
Nofziger started dining at Taste in July 2024 once his girlfriend, Morgan Pocock, began volunteering there. Since then, he has made an effort to take a seat at one of Taste’s tables to show his support for Pocock, who now works as Taste’s business manager.
“As a volunteer, I just loved the mission. I was really drawn towards the sense of community and I love the hospitality industry,” Pocock said.
One of the things Nofziger loves about the nonprofit is its community tables. Anyone can pull up a chair and dine with someone new. He said he has heard stories of people who came for a meal and left with a new friend.
“Taste is a community that people can come and feel safe and accepted and seen,” he said.
In 2018, Jeff Williams hosted a TEDx Talk in UTA’s Rosebud Theatre and soon had a new vision for opening another Taste Community Restaurant — this time in Arlington.
His dream for the new location was a bit different.
He said, in Arlington’s dream, he received a building with his church’s logo on it. After searching for a few years, someone approached him at a showcase dinner for their culinary apprentices and asked if they had thought about opening a space in Arlington.
“We had been praying about Arlington for a while,” Julie Williams said. “So when they came to us, it felt very much like it was meant to be, and that’s what God had planned.”
While their financial goal to open the second restaurant was $2.9 million, they received 481 donations that allowed them to raise over $3.2 million.
He knew this building was the perfect fit because they wanted to be near UTA and Texas Health Arlington Memorial Hospital. With the university’s high foreign student population, he knew he wanted to open his next location somewhere accessible to them.
Pulling inspiration from their Fort Worth location, the 13,000 square foot building serves as the Taste Project headquarters and is divided into a 3,000 square foot restaurant, 1,500 square foot production kitchen and a 1,500 square foot culinary classroom, including offices.
Everything about the second restaurant is calculated, including the bright and inviting colors painted on the walls. Jeff Williams said it’s supposed to be approachable, where everyone can fit in.
In 2022, Tarrant County had over 300,000 residents facing food insecurity, with a 16% food insecurity rate, according to Feeding America.
Jeff Williams said Arlington rests in a food desert. Instead of struggling to access government programs, community members visit his restaurant to eat without hassle.
After graduating college in December, Juliana Matous became the marketing coordinator for Taste. She said it’s very hard to make and eat healthy meals in college.
“Taste is one of these places that is going to be able to help the community and the students find ways to provide for their body in a healthy, nutritious way,” Matous said.
While ensuring each meal is healthy and nutritious, Jeff Williams said they base their menu on foods that interest them. Their jollof rice, for example, came about because an African supermarket opened up by his house and he bought a bunch of ingredients.
“Food is a thing that is universal between cultures,” he said.
Their menu changes as often as the seasons, which lets the chefs use the freshest ingredients available.
In addition to priceless meals, Julie Williams said they offer three tuition-free certified culinary apprenticeship programs through the American Culinary Foundation. Their goal is to accelerate their volunteers through the program as quickly as possible, so they can earn a livable wage in the food industry.
“I thought I was a really good cook five years ago, but I’ve learned so much in the kitchen,” Harms said.
On opening day, March 5, Arlington’s Taste Community Restaurant served 84 meals within the three hours they were open.
“Having a place to serve and having a place to just be,” Jeff Williams said. “If you are someone in need, having a place to go that isn’t a place where you have to line up and basically say you’re in need. That’s the one thing that really makes us different.”
@amandaLaldridge
