Paying It Forward: Restaurant Offers Free Meals

September 4, 2019

WNKY Staff,

(WYFF) A South Carolina restaurant is giving away free food, no questions asked.

At the back of Woodside Bistro in Greenville, there’s a board with tickets, which customers can buy for $10.

Anyone in need can stop in, take a ticket and exchange it for a fresh-cooked meal.

“Grab a card, get the meal, that’s it,” says Austyn McGroarty, chef and co-owner at Woodside Bistro,”Our customers have fed over 40 people. And we’ve only been open just over three months.”

As development continues to gentrify lower-income residents out of the area, Woodside Bistro welcomes those of all backgrounds, including neighbors who may be homeless or transient.

Employee Taylor Beck made the “Pay It Forward” board.

“I look at the board and I see all those tally marks on there, and that’s 45 people — that’s 45 people that otherwise would have gone hungry or would have just gotten a candy bar from the gas station. And it’s just important. It’s a great way to contribute to the area,” Beck says.