Food, Culture & Community: The Unleavened Bread Cafe

In 1997, Elease Womack, endearingly known by her friends as Mama Womack, recognized a pressing need in her Mapleton Fall Creek community that she knew she could address with a little food and conversation.  The Unleavened Bread Café was born.

As a woman of devout Christian faith, Mama Womack has let the café serve her community as a neighborhood pillar with perpetually open doors. We talked a bit with Mama Womack after our down home meal of chicken tenders, tomato bisque, grilled cheese sandwiches, and potato soup, and from the moment she greeted us we could feel her welcoming us in with open arms. She explained to us that, in addition to serving delicious food, the Unleavened Bread Café is also a ministry geared specifically toward reaching out to women who have recently been released from prison. It was obvious that she desires for her café to be a place where community comes first. We also hear that they serve a mean breakfast!

In addition to serving neighbors delicious food, the Unleavened Bread Café, located at 30th & Central Avenue, also manages and rents out plots in the urban community garden located just north of the building.

In all of our culinary adventures this past year, we have never seen a local eatery so committed to becoming an integral space for community. We left the Unleavened Café with full stomach, full hearts, and already eager for our next visit.