LifeCare Alliance's Carrie's Cafe — Restaurant in Columbus

Very, very small "meals" are sort-of free to seniors. They ask for a donation, but few give it. You are not allowed to carry out any part of your lunch, which is bad.

They have a grant for providing the meals, which probably brings them plenty of profit. They are a very wealthy organization because they can pay their top guy A QUARTER-MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR SALARY, plus benefits.

Soup is often good, and soup cups are a decent-sized little cup. You can get the world's tiniest salad (about 1/8 of a leaf of lettuce) instead of soup if you prefer, but not both.

This review was three stars when they had a better hamburger option. Most of their meals are very, very skimpy; however, you used to get more to eat if you ordered a hamburger: quarter-pounder on a grilled Kaiser roll, plus soup, tiny piece of fruit, and 4 oz juice. Not allowed a vegetable with a hamburger. The old hamburger meal was a little bit skimpy. The quantities of food in other meals are totally inadequate.

July 2018 hamburger update: The good little hamburger meal is gone. Now you just get one slider for lunch. Burger is only half the size it was, or less. Now the bun is smaller, but the miniature burger does not fill the little bun. Bun seems to just be toasted, not grilled like it was. Not worthwhile going.

VERY INEFFICIENT OPERATION: It is a cafeteria, but you can sit down if your order has to be cooked, and they will bring it to you when done. They buss the tables, which is a help since most of the clients are older. They have two different people doing bussing and delivering, when one person would be enough - unless they are having a special event. They have more workers than are needed. For example, one person looks you up on computer to see that you are registered with them. Next person takes your order on a computer. But you usually had to wait until these two showed up at their desks because they have so little to do that they were usually off gabbing someplace. These two jobs should be combined. If they did not waste money paying too many people (and paying the bosses too much), maybe they could give you a whole meal.

July, 2018 update. They replaced both the women who were always off-gabbing with more efficient people, both of who sit there doing nothing while waiting for customers. Why is that two jobs instead of one!

VERY UNHEALTHY FOOD: Every day, there is one "meal" that is already prepared -- almost always fried. Here's why. They take a thin slice of lunch meat, put heavy breading on it, fry it, and pretend it is a whole piece of meat, but it is basically just...

I visited the LifeCare Alliance's Carrie's Cafe yesterday [7-17-2018] so that I would be able to attend "Lunch with the Trailblazers," a free meal and a presentation about the many programs of the LifeCare Alliance. Fifteen or so LGBT senior adults and others who are related to Stonewall Columbus had been present for that event.

During the 1½-hour-long program, we had learned about the many programs that the LifeCare Alliance offers for senior adults, one of which is Carrie's Cafe, a program that serves a meal at the 670 Harmon Ave. location, 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., Monday-Friday.

If you are sixty years old or older, your meal at Carrie's Cafe is free or at a reduced price; anyone, regardless of age, is welcome to eat there at a non-reduced price. I have heard that people who work at nearby buildings often go to Carrie's Cafe for lunch.

The slightly-nonintuitive process at Carrie's Cafe is that you place your order at one counter and then you walk all the way across the room to the dimly-lighted food-preparation-and-serving area where they give you your food and/or they tell you that they will bring your food to your table. You then leave the food-preparation-and-serving area so that you will be able to pay, or not, depending on your circumstances, at the cash register.

It had been nice to see participants in the Carrie's Cafe program sitting around large round tables in the dining room, eating their meals, and actively talking...

Carrie's Cafe is a great deal for senior citizens. For $1.50 you can get a hot meal of an entree, two vegetables, and a carton of regular or chocolate milk, or a juice. Or instead, you can select the soup and sandwich. (A third option currently escapes me.) The $1.50 is the suggested donation, but Carrie's Cafe turns no senior away, regardless of ability to pay.

The dining facility is clean and spacious. The employees, paid and volunteer, are very nice and gladly welcome customers. The food seems lightly salted at times so do inquire about the day's seasonings. If you 60 and over (and not younger), you really should give it a try.

It's open from 7am until 2pm. Too bad it closes that early so don't forget and go any later. Later dinner meals would also be nice. Parking is readily available and they even provide bus rides to and from several senior facilities...