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The MCM Lunchbox: Flourishing Two Years into a Grand Experiment
This July marks the two-year anniversary of the Lunchbox, our pay-what-you-can cafe. The pay-what-you-can model—the only such restaurant inside a US museum—ensures that no one has to play on an empty stomach. That said, the cafe is for EVERYBODY. Eating together is a powerful shared experience. This innovative community cafe was featured during the Association of Children’s Museums Interactivity conference held in Madison in May, spotlighting the cafe for children’s museums internationally. We are proud to share our knowledge with everyone interested—and many are! We’ve received calls from other museums looking to replicate our model in their home communities.
Lunchbox facts
- Since opening, 77% of food costs have been covered by payments in the cafe. (We’ve received additional cafe funding from individuals, businesses, and grants)
- That percentage has been rising, reaching 90% of food costs covered by in-cafe payments in June 2024
- Over 1,200 Watermelon slices have been eaten since May
- While composting & recycling are available in the cafe, an internally conducted waste audit showed not many visitors sort and separate their food waste into the correct containers, revealing an area we can make the cafe more sustainable in future
Madison Children’s Museum owns and operates the Lunchbox, a licensed retail food & beverage establishment. We purchase food and make it available to visitors. There are no posted prices; diners choose what they’ll pay for their food. It’s ok to pay a little, a lot, or nothing at all. Use of the cafe isn’t restricted to those with museum tickets; everyone is welcome. They can eat at our cafe tables or take the food to go.
The Lunchbox offers quick snacks—like fruit or granola bars—and freshly prepared meals. We are proud that the prepared foods you will find in the cafe are produced by local partners Willy Street Co-op & Ugly Apple Cafe. Both share our values and priorities: providing access to healthy food, addressing food insecurity, and operating sustainably. The museum purchases food from these partners at preferred pricing; they are invested in the success of the cafe.
“I often get asked if the cafe breaks even. The quick answer is: no, not yet. But breaking even isn’t the primary goal. The Lunchbox serves our mission, supporting children and their families, making sure that healthy food at the museum is accessible to everyone. That said, it’s great to see the payments in the cafe continuing to approach food costs.”
— Lily Hoyer-Winfield, MCM director of visitor services
Willy Street Co-op
The Willy Street Co-op has been a Madison institution since 1974—just like MCM! The Lunchbox cafe was a proud recipient of a grant from the Willy Street Co-op’s Community Reinvestment Fund in 2023. Given our shared history and values, we were delighted when this May, the Willy Street Co-op kitchen became our newest food partner and started weekly deliveries of fresh food to the Lunchbox. Their deli foods provide a variety of coop-favorite fresh salads and dishes, with a range of new flavors, textures, and sizes for our visitors to enjoy. In the Lunchbox cooler you’ll find “sharables,” “just for me,” and “try me” sizes of deli salads—perfect for families to try and share new food together.
Partnering with MCM has been great; this relationship speaks to many of us on so many levels. The intersection of sustainability and community means ‘local’ to me—building relationships within our community to help sustain our community. Dollars spent here get recirculated within our community and continue to help boost our local economy. This is what Willy Street is all about.”
— Nicholas Oconnor, prepared foods & cheese category manager of the Willy Street Co-op
Ugly Apple Cafe
Ugly Apple Cafe has been a partner with the Lunchbox since the fall of 2023. Every week, Ugly Apple provides fresh baked scones and muffins for Friday visitors. Ugly Apple Cafe is housed in the County Courthouse building, only a few blocks from the museum. On Friday mornings a staff person from the museum walks over and picks up delicious bakery goods—you don’t get much more “fresh and local” than that! These muffins and scones are seasonal, delicious, and baked in kid-friendly sizes.
Ugly Apple also caters many special events at MCM, including coffee and donuts for Member Mornings (a members-only hour on the first Saturday of the month) and food for member parties. They also often host a pop-up shop at MCM serving at events like Live from the Wonderground. Ugly Apple Cafe seeks to use produce and food products that may otherwise be thrown out for their appearance or for other reasons that don’t compromise the taste or nutritional value of the food.
“As a parent, we are at the museum playing a lot and it’s been really interesting to see how my children’s tastes compare with the items that are popular with the museum community.”
—Ugly Apple Cafe owner Laurel Burleson.
The relationship between Madison Children’s Museum and these two valued organizations will continue to grow in 2024 and beyond, with all of us looking forward to breaking bread with our partners, visitors to Madison Children’s Museum, and the broader community.
The Lunchbox cafe opened in July of 2022 as a partnership between Madison Children’s Museum and Little John’s Kitchens. We thank Chef Dave for his vision and passion in helping to create the cafe.
Major support is provided by Jane Villa in honor of Deb Gilpin, with additional support provided by The Tamara D. Grigsby Office for Equity and Inclusion.
2022 pilot funders include the Ecumenical Fund for Nutrition at Madison Community Foundation, Jane & David Villa, Endres Manufacturing Company Foundation, Virent, Inc., Willy Street Co-op, Dane County Department of Waste & Renewables, and J.H. Findorff & Son Inc.
Access for Everyone support is provided by Nimick Forbesway Foundation, Exact Sciences, and JPMorgan Chase. Over 200 households and organizations made individual gifts of less than $2,500.
