At Everybody Eats’ new cafe in Chester, ‘we’re just trying to bring a vibe’

Good news can be hard to come by in Chester, which operates in bankruptcy and where a third of the residents live in poverty. Just last week, the city’s closest hospitals — Crozer-Chester Medical Center and Taylor Hospital — began shutting down.

All the more reason to be working in Chester, say chefs Stephanie Willis and Malik Ali.

Three years ago, they moved to the town south of Philadelphia International Airport to open Vittles, a nonprofit food hall, to combat food insecurity.

Vittles also was the home base of Everybody Eats, a movement created by Willis, Ali, Kurt Evans, Aziza Young, and other Black Philadelphia chefs in June 2020, in the aftermath of the unrest following the murder of George Floyd. They hosted giveaways of food and household goods and used the space as a kitchen for their off-site “activations.”

While Vittles was a great concept, said Willis, “there just was not a lot of foot traffic around there. It was a complete desert every single day.”

A year ago, Willis and Ali found a former bar-restaurant at 16 W. Fifth St. in Chester’s downtown, several blocks from its transit hub, and began fixing it up as Everybody Eats Cafe. It soft-opened last month for lunch, and recently began offering breakfast. An event space is being developed next door with a stage for live music, DJs, and parties. Weekend brunch will be offered as well.

“We’re just trying to bring a vibe,” said Ali, 34, a former sous chef at such Philadelphia restaurants as Noord, Neuf, and the Dutch, as ’90s slow jams poured through the restaurant. “Basically, there’s not too many places in Chester where you can sit down and eat at.”

Everybody Eats Cafe is a for-profit business, Willis and Ali said, but they are committed to the city. Four days a week, the chefs prepare meals for 100 people served by Chester Eastside.

“We wanted to stay in Chester because we are very tied in with the community,” said Willis, 39, who started in the business as a teenager washing dishes at a Friendly’s in Mount Laurel and worked for Jose Garces. She became a caterer and private chef after her son was born.

Once a month, Willis and Ali host a cooking demonstration class for children with the Making a Change Group. “We teach them simple meals that can be made at home, like fried rice and ramen,” Ali said.

They also work with Chester CAAT Center, which runs family programs. “Everybody is close here and grew up with each other,” Ali said. “We were like outsiders to them, so we just had to get to know the community and get to know what they like.”

The cafe is now home base for their catering company, Everybody Eats on Set, which prepares food for nearby film and television productions.

Last year, Willis and Ali fed the cast and crew of the movie Breathe, a postapocalyptic thriller. They also worked on the Shane Gillis Netflix comedy series Tires and the Ridley Scott AppleTV+ drama series Dope Thief.

At the cafe right now, they’re keeping hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. The breakfast menu includes Creole shrimp and grits ($16), fish and grits ($14), and the Exit 6 Platter (a tribute to the nearby I-95 exit) of eggs, breakfast meats (no pork, as most of the menu is halal), home fries, and toast ($10), plus corn bread French toast ($12) and chicken and waffles ($16). There’s a breakfast sandwich ($7) and a vegan version ($9). Lunch plates include a salmon burger with a side salad ($14), fish hoagie ($15), and beef or salmon cheesesteaks ($15).