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The Asbury Cafe began in the Goat Barn on the Fairgrounds in 1960 as an outreach of Asbury United Methodist Church. The founding church had a few facilities, and its location at the eastern edge of Albuquerque, 10,000 Candelaria NE, was barren. The cafe began as an idea to benefit Asbury United Methodist Church's building fund. The specialty of homemade pie was the first menu item, and the church facilities took shape as the cafe prospered. When Asbury no longer needed money for itself, the decision was made to use this resource as a community outreach.
The Asbury Cafe's reputation for good food and community outreach grew to such an extent that it stretched the resources of the single church. A few years ago, St. Stephen's United Methodist Church joined forces with Asbury to expand the volunteer forces and supplement the outreach of the Cafe. In 1994 we were joined by St. John's United Methodist Church. These three churches share in the work involved with the cafe: picking and processing fruit, preparing pies, planning, and operating the cafe. Now, these three United Methodist congregations, with the support of several other churches and individuals who donate fruit and pies, work together to produce as much profit as possible. Every penny of the profit goes to helping people, and none of the proceeds of the cafe support the churches.
Ideas for expansion and improvements have increased production capability, and the cafe now serves a greater number of fairgoers than ever! The menu includes hamburgers and sodas in addition to the homemade pies that made the Cafe famous. Annual sales now exceed 2500 pies, each one of which is homemade and donated to the Cafe.
From a basic beginning of serving pie by the slice from the goat barn in 1960, the Asbury Cafe has become a tremendous community outreach. The Asbury Cafe is run completely by volunteers who desire to share the love of Christ in action throughout our community. In addition to the more than 600 workers from the various churches, the cafe is also assisted by volunteers from the charities that it supports and organizations of represented volunteers.