Good Karma Cafe relocated near USC campus
Good Karma Cafe at USC has moved to a new location at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, right across from campus on Vermont Avenue. The popular student cafe was originally located at the United University Church and relocated after the University bought the location at the end of 2017 with plans to renovate the area.
The cafe, which offers affordable plant-based meals for students in a buffet-style setting, officially started business in the new location Tuesday after operating out of the United University Church for nine years.
Head chef and founder Sarvatma Das said the University has its own plans to renovate the space, and the cafe was told it would only be able to stay temporarily until the renovations took place. With the purchase, Das said the restaurant would also have to pay new insurance and other fees that it hadn’t before.
“I detected no ill will, but obviously, the University is very much a business … and we don’t fit,” Das said. “They care about insurance [and] lawsuits … so they set certain rules that made it difficult, so we chose to work in a [friendlier] environment, and the St. Marks Church offered that.”
Das said the restaurant wants to inform students about the new location and noticed that many of the restaurant’s loyal customers have returned. He said the new location, which is closer to off-campus student residences, might attract more customers.
“I think [the location] is farther away from some of the departments, but it’s closer to where [students] live,” Das said. “We were across the street from the Viterbi [School of Engineering], and a lot of students wouldn’t come because it was a long walk, and now it’s just going across the street. I think the clientele may change a little bit, but already I’ve seen already in the first two days, I would say, two-thirds … of our loyal customers.”
The eatery is focused on sustainable practices and also allows customers to bring their own containers to take food back home.
“We encourage people to bring Tupperware — first of all, because it reduces the carbon footprint and also because we are very generous with our portions,” Das said. “And we don’t mind if people want to take some home to eat later. Because, again, you guys are busy… [Students] have finals, essays, interviews, etc. We want you to make an educated choice by eating good stuff so [that] your brain develops at the same time that your body.”
The move benefits students like Maria Camasmie, a senior majoring in narrative studies, and Franco Laxamana, a senior majoring in mechanical engineering, who have been regular customers and now live closer to the lunch buffet.
“My housemate and I recently were talking about how we were generally worried about the move for the sake of Good Karma,” Camasieo said. “Obviously, for us regulars who went all last year and the year before, we’ll keep going even if it moved farther [away]. But we were wondering if they would get as much attention from younger students … being off campus and a little bit farther than their previous location.”
Laxamana said he enjoys the pop-up because of its sustainable practices and likes the new location’s spaciousness.
“There’s definitely a context of charitability, almost — I really like that. It’s a good common area to congregate in,” Laxamana said. “It seems a lot more airy in here … as opposed to the last location where it’s a little bit more intimate. That kind of gives a different vibe to it.”
Students also have the opportunity to volunteer at the cafe and, in return, get to eat for free. Simone Augustine, a senior majoring in pharmacology, volunteers at the cafe and likes the friendly community.
“You can volunteer at any part of the day, so you can come from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. You can come help cook, and then if you come around noon, you can help serve the food,” she said. “If you [volunteer], you obviously get to eat for free and you get to know the community.”