The Coffee Pot Restaurant will be opening its doors to the community and asking people to open up their wallets to benefit the Sedona Community Food Bank from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 22, with its 14th annual free Thanksgiving meal.

“We don’t charge because it’s a free dinner, but if people decide that they want to donate, then we give all the donations to the Sedona Food Bank,” said Damien Daher, son of owner Emilie Daher. “It’s a joy to be able to host people in the restaurant and serve them. It’s also fulfilling to be able to make that donation before the holidays to the food bank.”

The dinner typically attracts around 400 guests for the communal Thanksgiving meal and raises between $3,000 and $4,000 for the Sedona Community Food Bank.

“It started in 2008 during the recession,” Daher said. “The initial idea was for people that were either alone on Thanksgiving, or unable to celebrate, whether it be they didn’t have family in town, or they didn’t have the means to do so. It was to offer everybody an ability to experience the holidays and have a festive and communal atmosphere. But soon after we decided to open it up to everyone. Because we wanted it to be a community event, we wanted, whether it be tourists to come in or families, or anyone … to get to know people from different walks of life within their community.”

That eclectic mix of people will be dining on a traditional meal featuring turkey, gravy, stuffing, vegetables, mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce followed by pie. Complimentary non-alcoholic beverages will be offered as well, such as soda, coffee and tea. No alcohol is available or offered.

Plate requests can accommodate people’s dietary restrictions provided that they are within the available items.

“There are a number of people that have made connections at these dinners, and they come back year after year and remind us that maybe they were new to town and they weren’t feeling that comfortable being new, [but] they came in and made lasting connections,” Daher said. “We get to see a different group at that dinner than we normally do.”

Daher said that seeing the smiles on people’s faces and feeling an air of gratitude is what Thanksgiving is all about. “Thanksgiving has been my favorite holiday for most of my life,” he said. “I have great memories as a kid with my family with my mom doing the cooking, and it’s a special holiday, and being able to share that with such a diverse group of people is amazing.”

Daher added that his family has “always tried to be a pillar of the community” since his family
first purchased the restaurant in 1990, and that the Thanksgiving meal is part of upholding that vow.

“Especially if they haven’t been to this event before, [people] should come check it out,” Daher said. “I don’t think there’s a whole lot of restaurants that do something like this. So it’s the opportunity to participate in a unique event that we love doing.”