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DOWNEY, Calif. () — A local woman didn’t want to go to a restaurant by herself, so she came up with an idea.
She started a club and invited strangers.
It has since grown into quite a large group that now meets regularly.
A unique dinner in Downey once a month is celebrating the power behind sharing a meal with others.
The Downey Supper Club meets once a month and is the brainchild of Janet Teal Minnig.
“It’s harder as you get older to make friends, and so I knew that this is the case for other people,” Minnig said.
Minnig came up with the idea over the summer after she wanted to check out a local restaurant but didn’t want to go alone.
So, she put out an open invite on Facebook.
“Does anybody want to go to dinner with me at the Sizzler for the grand opening? If you do join the Downey Supper Club,” she wrote on the post.
Surprisingly, people showed up, and the group has grown since then.
“I was at another restaurant having dinner by myself, and Jan from this group dragged me over to the big table of people. It was a much smaller table than it is now, and that was four months ago. Since then I’ve been to every event,” Downey Supper Club attendee Carl True said.
“This is my first night here. I’ve been aware of the supper club for quite some time, but I haven’t been able to get here, but now it’s so much fun,” attendee Kay Rodriguez said.
The club’s rules are simple: support local businesses, and no one sits alone.
“It’s tough to compete with the big chains,” co-president of Chris & Pitts BBQ Restaurant, Debbie Pelonis Berry, said. “This is a huge win, and I am incredibly thankful to Jan for choosing us.”
“You don’t have to talk, but you have to sit with us. It just kind of pulls people in and pulls them out of their shell. We’ve had some people that have come in that have been so painfully bashful, and now they walk in and they’re hugging everyone, and they’ve just made that connection. We look forward to it every month, seeing each other,” Minnig said.
The invitation to break bread together goes out to folks outside of Downey as well.
The supper club says it’s about a human connection.
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