Is St. James Soup Kitchen Still Open? Update (Newark, NJ)
Current status
As of September 2026, St. James Soup Kitchen is listed open on stjamesssc.org, reviewed by our team on September 7, 2026; not yet independently confirmed through direct contact.
Last verified
What the source shows: St. James Social Service Corporation's own website, with dated content as recent as July 2025, states its Soulfood Cafe Soup Kitchen and Emergency Food Pantry continue operating at 604 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. in Newark; a food-assistance directory listing for the same program was found but self-flags as not recently verified.
- Season / episode Season 2, Episode 15
- Original air date
- Address 604 Dr Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Newark, NJ 07102
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What happened after Restaurant: Impossible (Food Network)?
On Restaurant: Impossible (Food Network), Robert Irvine departed from the show's usual for-profit format to renovate St. James Soup Kitchen, a program of St. James Social Service Corporation (SJSSC) in Newark, New Jersey, run by executive director Vesta Godwin Clark. According to the episode and SJSSC's own materials, the soup kitchen served roughly 150 people a day, most of them homeless, with no one turned away, making it one of the larger food providers in the surrounding community. Six months before filming, a fire had damaged the building and much of the kitchen equipment, leaving the volunteer-run operation struggling to keep pace with demand on a facility that was already worn and under-resourced. Irvine's team spent two days and $10,000 replacing damaged equipment, cleaning and repairing the kitchen, and redesigning the dining room so it could better serve both the daily feeding program and the community it depended on. The episode, which aired November 23, 2011, framed the renovation as one of Irvine's most demanding given the facility's charitable mission and its reliance on donations and volunteer labor rather than paying customers. Since the episode, SJSSC has continued operating at the same Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard address. The organization's own website describes its daily feeding operation, now branded the Soulfood Cafe Soup Kitchen, as continuing to serve meals alongside an Emergency Food Pantry that distributes groceries to thousands of families a year, and states the agency serves more than 60,000 individuals annually across its food, clothing, and housing-assistance programs. A food-assistance directory listing for the St. James Social Service Corporation pantry and soup kitchen likewise shows the program still listed at the same address, though that listing notes it has not been recently reverified by the directory itself. No reporting was found of a closure, relocation, or name change for the soup kitchen or its parent nonprofit since the renovation; the 'Soulfood Cafe' branding referenced on SJSSC's site appears to be the program name for the daily feeding operation rather than a rebrand of the organization.
Featured on Restaurant: Impossible
- Season / episode
- Season 2, Episode 15
- Original air date
- Episode title
- St. James Soup Kitchen
- What was featured
- Kitchen and dining room rebuild for a fire-damaged nonprofit soup kitchen
- Role
- Featured restaurant
- Name on the broadcast
- St. James Soup Kitchen
Frequently asked questions
Is St. James Soup Kitchen still open in 2026?
As of September 2026, St. James Soup Kitchen is listed open on stjamesssc.org, reviewed by our team on September 7, 2026; not yet independently confirmed through direct contact.
What happened to St. James Soup Kitchen after Restaurant: Impossible?
On Restaurant: Impossible (Food Network), Robert Irvine departed from the show's usual for-profit format to renovate St. As of September 2026, St. James Soup Kitchen is listed open on stjamesssc.org, reviewed by our team on September 7, 2026; not yet independently confirmed through direct contact.
Where is St. James Soup Kitchen located?
604 Dr Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Newark, NJ 07102. That is the address on the record as of September 7, 2026.
What season and episode of Restaurant: Impossible featured St. James Soup Kitchen?
Season 2, Episode 15 of Restaurant: Impossible, first aired November 23, 2011. The episode is titled “St. James Soup Kitchen”.
Did the makeover last at St. James Soup Kitchen?
The episode first aired November 23, 2011. Our most recent check was September 7, 2026 — 15 years later —: As of September 2026, St. James Soup Kitchen is listed open on stjamesssc.org, reviewed by our team on September 7, 2026; not yet independently confirmed through direct contact.
Is St. James Soup Kitchen still using the Restaurant: Impossible menu or branding?
No reporting was found of a closure, relocation, or name change for the soup kitchen or its parent nonprofit since the renovation; the 'Soulfood Cafe' branding referenced on SJSSC's site appears to be the program name for the daily feeding operation rather than a rebrand of the organization. Anything newer than our last check on September 7, 2026 may not be reflected here.
Every status on this site carries a confidence label and a date, and names the source it rests on. Read the Editorial & Corrections Policy for what each label means and how quickly we act on corrections. The questions above are generated from this record's own published fields — we never publish a question we cannot answer from the data.
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Visit info
- Address
- 604 Dr Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Newark, NJ 07102
- Venue type
- restaurant
- Official website
- stjamesssc.org
- State hub
- TV restaurants in New Jersey
Businesses change fast. Always confirm directly with the restaurant — call ahead, or check its own current website or social media — before making plans around anything on this page.
Sources
- stjamesssc.org — https://stjamesssc.org/
- food-banks.org — https://food-banks.org/detail/st_james_social_service_corporation_food_pantry_and_soup_kitchen_newark_nj.html
- projectlive.org — https://projectlive.org/st-james-social-service-corp/
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Record ri-022 · last verified .