Skip to main content
English Spanish

Empty Bowls: Wednesday, September 18!

Empty Bowls: Wednesday, September 18!


Tickets are on sale now for the eighth annual Empty Bowls Community Luncheon, coming up on Wednesday, September 18, 2019, from 11 am to 1:30 pm at St. Patrick’s Church Hall in Arroyo Grande. Tickets are $25.

Join us anytime between 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. to enjoy lunch, or if you are in a hurry, take out is available. For $25, choose a beautiful bowl, handcrafted by a local professional artist or student volunteer, and enjoy a simple meal of delicious soup and bread that has been donated by area restaurants. Take home the bowl as a reminder of the meal’s true purpose: to provide long-term solutions to the challenges of homelessness and to provide a healthier future for our community.

A selection of vegan and vegetarian soups will be available as well as gluten-free and low-salt options.

This collaborative event brings together local artists, restaurants, businesses and community members to support 5Cities Homeless Coalition. All proceeds from this event are used to help the Coalition find solutions to the challenges of homelessness in our community in collaboration with our strong community partners.

Last year’s event nearly sold out, raising more than $44,000 for 5Cities Homeless Coalition programs and services. More than 120 gallons of soup from a score of local restaurants were consumed, and only a handful of bowls were left of the 800-plus that were donated by local artists, community members and students.

Tickets are available here.

Enjoy lunch prepared by these generous restaurants, markets, kitchens and bakeries:
Branch Street Deli - Chicken Tortilla
California Fresh Market - Chicken Gumbo
CJ's Café - Italian Wedding
Coco's Restaurant - Cream of Brocolli
DePalo & Sons - Minestrone
Ember - Special of the Day
Fin's Restaurant - Clam Chowder
Grover Beach Sourdough
Honeymoon Café - Vegan Pumpkin Curry
(Vegetarian, gluten-free and low-salt; Ingredients: coconut milk, curry, celery, carrots, potatoes, garlic powder, onions, parsley, tomatoes, Chinese five spice and butternut squash)
House of Bread
Huckleberry's - Chili
Jaffa Café - Red Lentil
(Vegetarian and gluten-free; Ingredients: vegetable broth, red lentils, salt, pepper and cumin)
Lido - Chilled Gazpacho
Mason Bar & Kitchen - Tomato Bisque
New Life Kitchen - Beef Vegetable
Oceano Elks Club - Shrimp Bisque
Old Juan's Cantina - Albondigas
Penny's All American Café - Chiken Tortilla
Rooster Creek Tavern - Chicken Tortilla
Rosa's Ristorante Italiano - Minestrone
Splash Café - Clam Chowder
Spyglass Inn Restaurant - Clam Chowder
The Spoon Trade - Vegan Tomato
(Vegetarian and gluten-free; Ingredients: tomatoes, onion, olive oil and salt)
Zorro's - Vegetable (Vegetarian; Ingredients: vegetable stock and vegetiables)

Bowls have been provided by

  • Allan Hancock College
  • Altrusa International
  • Guyla Amyx     
  • Anam-Cré Pottery Studio
  • Arroyo Grande High School     
  • Darcy Badiali
  • Clayworks Pottery     
  • Sandy Ferris
  • Gary Gall     
  • Lopez High School
  • Mike McNutt   
  • Bob Nichols
  • Ocean View Elementary School
  • Pottery Coast
  • Richard Rowe     
  • San Luis Obispo High School
  • Kathryn Phelan 
  • Paula Schaffner 
  • Leland Swenson     
  • Trilogy Clay Buddies
  • Charles Varni

Additional support has been provided by

  • 1st Capital Bank
  • Altrusa International of San Luis Obispo County
  • Ben Trogdon
  • DJ Bob Stackpole
  • Mike McNutt
  • Rotary Five Cities Eco
  • SLOCO Data & Printing
  • St. Patrick’s Catholic Church
  • Vivian Krug Cotton ~ Emotions Photography

Thanks to these major sponsors:

Thanks to these supporting sponsors:

  • 5 Cities Men's Club
  • Anita Shower, ECO Club Five Cities
  • Arroyo Grande Chevrolet
  • Coast Circuit Solutions
  • Community Health Centers
  • First American Title
  • Mechanics Bank / Rabobank
  • Merit Profiles Background Screening
  • SESLOC Federal Credit Union
  • SLO County Board of Supervisors
  • Specialty Construction
  • Wallace Group
  • Brad's Restaurant
  • Coastal Community Builders
  • Coast Cities Insurance Solutions
  • Controller-On-Call
  • Fissori Real Estate Team
  • Five Cities CPAs, Inc.
  • Keller Williams Realty Central Coast
  • LeeAnne & George Fisher
  • Nancy Puder & Associates
  • Nipomo Presbyterian Church
  • Tomasini Construction
  • Judith Higgins       
  • Idler's        
  • Kiwanis Club of AG Valley
  • Senna's Insurance Services             
  • Sure Mortgage
  • The Temple of the People     
  • The Vernon Family

Raffle items donated by

  • Apropos
  • Patty Arias
  • Rosa Bartlett
  • Central Coast Quilt Guild
  • Cherry Lane Nursery
  • Peggy Coon
  • Cottonwood Canyon Winery
  • Designs By Edie
  • Doc Burnstein's Ice Cream Lab
  • Karen Gray
  • The Green Room
  • Harry & David
  • Hello Village
  • Judith Higgins
  • Bernice C. Johnson
  • Julia's Juice Bar
  • Lavendar Blue Boutique
  • Mason Bar & Kitchen
  • Pardon My French Bakery
  • Perfetto Café
  • Ron's Nursery
  • Arlene Sackman
  • Santa Barbara Historical Museum
  • Sidewalk Café
  • Sierra Body Shop
  • Spyglass Inn Restaurant
  • The Great American Melodrama & Vaudeville
  • The Keenan Carter Group
  • The Village Salon
  • Trader Joe's
  • Verdad Wine Cellars
  • Woodstock's Pizza

Thanks to all who make this a truly community event, and bigger and better every year!