Jon Bon Jovi opens community restaurant to feed students in Newark

Jon Bon Jovi and Dorothea Bongiovi opened a JBJ Soul Kitchen restaurant at Rutgers-Newark in New Jersey to address food insecurity among university students.

The project, run by the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation, serves as a community kitchen where people can eat regardless of their ability to pay. While the restaurant operates like a traditional eatery, it uses a model where customers who have the means provide a suggested contribution to help fund meals for others.

The initiative aims to remove the social stigma of seeking food assistance. All diners receive the same menu and sit in the same dining area. For those who cannot afford a meal, the restaurant offers a way to participate by volunteering in the kitchen or in other community activities. Jon Bon Jovi noted that approximately one in three students at four year universities faces difficulties accessing consistent food, a struggle that often goes unnoticed as students continue to attend classes.

The restaurant faced early challenges when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the university to close its campus shortly after the January 2020 opening. The facility fully reopened in October 2022 with the help of university representatives and Gourmet Dining. Today, the kitchen operates inside the Paul Robeson Campus Center and coordinates with pantryRUN, a campus food pantry. It continues to serve students, professors, employees, and local community members.