Great chicken salad, pasta salad and cheesy potato soup! Didn’t know this was a wildly successful school work program now in operation for two decades. As a traveler and educator it was a particular pleasure to support such a creative learning opportunity for special needs students while enjoying a delicious upscale lunch. We were really glad we stumbled in!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Jeff Smalla
Amazing!! Don't miss it! I would definitely return! Get there early so that you can get a monster cookie. That cookie was worth the trip! So, warm, chewy, tasty and huge! My sandwich was huge and yummy! Service was phenomenal. I wish I was a local, I'd eat here every week! Highly recommend you give Spirit a try!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Melissa H
Tried this for the first time this week. I usually miss their open hours. I tried their daily special of red pepper Gouda soup with bacon grilled cheese. Food was fresh, hot and delicious. Fast service. A good variety on the menu for being a school program to get kids work experience before they graduate. Thai is a classroom in the real world and it is a great thing to be a part of. I look forward to returning to try other items like their loaded baked potato.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Melissa Hoose
Tried this for the first time this week. Food was great. Service was good. Amazing program to get the kids some real world work experience before they graduate. A good variety of options on the menu. Looking forward to returning and trying their loaded potato.
Brenda Malott
Wonderful small town café supporting the ID population with assistance from their teachers. Food, service, price are all great!! Cookies are huge!!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
M James
Amazing idea. Good food. Great to see the community support.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Epic Game Trailer
Love this restaurant! The concept is awesome and works excellent! The food is amazing, the baked potato is huge! Definitely a must go in Oskaloosa.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Pandc Cavanaugh
Spirit Cafe in Osky is now our favorite lunch spot. The food is outstanding so fresh, hot and most of all delicious. The manners of the students and staff are so refreshing.They care and are interested in the customers. 10 ⭐️ gr8 place
Michael Moore
- Friendly wait staff
- Adults seem very friendly and patient with younger staff
- Clean environment
- Very modern
- Menu size is moderate, enough options to choose from but not too many that you get lost trying to read it
Spirit Cafe in Oskaloosa is where your taste buds and your heart get a double dose of happiness. This place has mastered the art of serving up delicious café-style food and doing good for the community. Their mission? Empowering students and adults with special needs by giving them real-world work experience—basically, they’re building a brighter future one sandwich at a time.
The food is so good, you’ll forget you were just popping in for a quick bite. Think soups, salads, and sandwiches that’ll have you questioning every sad desk lunch you’ve ever had. And the decor? Local student artwork that’s so charming you might feel inspired to finally hang up that poster you’ve had since college.
Eating here isn’t just a meal; it’s an investment in kindness and community. Plus, it’s the only place where you can say, “I supported a great cause today!” while scarfing down a killer BLT. Highly recommend—5 stars for food, mission, and making you feel like a better human.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Turkey Bacon Sandwich
marilyn olinger
We ate lunch there today and had the best chicken salad sandwich I’ve ever eaten and my friend had a triple decker BLT that he said was delicious! Thanks for being another good place to eat!
Parking: It was about noon on Friday and we parked a couple doors from the restaurant and there were lots of people dining when we got there!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Chicken Salad Sandwich
Nik Rule
The mission, the food, the service, the purpose. All 5 stars.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
J.M. Biezeman
My favorite place in town. The chicken salad sandwich is great with grapes, cranberries and pecans. The croissant it comes on is very good, too. The BLT has a great berry jam (not sure what exactly it was) that makes it stand out. The Spirit Cafe is a work experience program for students in the Oskaloosa Community School System. The special needs students are doing an awesome job! Everybody I know loves this place.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Joyce Bricker
As the parent of an adult special needs person. I had to come. The food is amazing the server was great CODY YOU ROCK!!
Great chicken salad, pasta salad and cheesy potato soup! Didn’t know this was a wildly successful school work program now in operation for two decades. As a traveler and educator it was a particular pleasure to support such a creative learning opportunity for special needs students while enjoying a delicious upscale lunch. We were really glad we stumbled in!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Amazing!! Don't miss it! I would definitely return! Get there early so that you can get a monster cookie. That cookie was worth the trip! So, warm, chewy, tasty and huge! My sandwich was huge and yummy! Service was phenomenal. I wish I was a local, I'd eat here every week! Highly recommend you give Spirit a try!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Tried this for the first time this week. I usually miss their open hours. I tried their daily special of red pepper Gouda soup with bacon grilled cheese. Food was fresh, hot and delicious. Fast service. A good variety on the menu for being a school program to get kids work experience before they graduate. Thai is a classroom in the real world and it is a great thing to be a part of. I look forward to returning to try other items like their loaded baked potato.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Tried this for the first time this week. Food was great. Service was good. Amazing program to get the kids some real world work experience before they graduate. A good variety of options on the menu. Looking forward to returning and trying their loaded potato.
Wonderful small town café supporting the ID population with assistance from their teachers. Food, service, price are all great!!
Cookies are huge!!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Amazing idea. Good food. Great to see the community support.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Love this restaurant! The concept is awesome and works excellent! The food is amazing, the baked potato is huge! Definitely a must go in Oskaloosa.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Spirit Cafe in Osky is now our favorite lunch spot. The food is outstanding so fresh, hot and most of all delicious. The manners of the students and staff are so refreshing.They care and are interested in the customers. 10 ⭐️ gr8 place
- Friendly wait staff - Adults seem very friendly and patient with younger staff - Clean environment - Very modern - Menu size is moderate, enough options to choose from but not too many that you get lost trying to read it
Wonderful Experience!!
Recommended dishes: Chicken Salad Sandwich, Loaded Potato
Restaurantji Recommends
Spirit Cafe in Oskaloosa is where your taste buds and your heart get a double dose of happiness. This place has mastered the art of serving up delicious café-style food and doing good for the community. Their mission? Empowering students and adults with special needs by giving them real-world work experience—basically, they’re building a brighter future one sandwich at a time.
The food is so good, you’ll forget you were just popping in for a quick bite. Think soups, salads, and sandwiches that’ll have you questioning every sad desk lunch you’ve ever had. And the decor? Local student artwork that’s so charming you might feel inspired to finally hang up that poster you’ve had since college.
Eating here isn’t just a meal; it’s an investment in kindness and community. Plus, it’s the only place where you can say, “I supported a great cause today!” while scarfing down a killer BLT. Highly recommend—5 stars for food, mission, and making you feel like a better human.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Turkey Bacon Sandwich
We ate lunch there today and had the best chicken salad sandwich I’ve ever eaten and my friend had a triple decker BLT that he said was delicious! Thanks for being another good place to eat!
Parking: It was about noon on Friday and we parked a couple doors from the restaurant and there were lots of people dining when we got there!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Chicken Salad Sandwich
The mission, the food, the service, the purpose. All 5 stars.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
My favorite place in town. The chicken salad sandwich is great with grapes, cranberries and pecans. The croissant it comes on is very good, too. The BLT has a great berry jam (not sure what exactly it was) that makes it stand out.
The Spirit Cafe is a work experience program for students in the Oskaloosa Community School System. The special needs students are doing an awesome job! Everybody I know loves this place.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
As the parent of an adult special needs person. I had to come. The food is amazing the server was great CODY YOU ROCK!!
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