COLORS - New York

COLORS was born in 2006, when we first opened our doors in New York City with a menu that lovingly reflected the culinary traditions of the 22 countries from which our proud worker-owners hailed. The idea that such finely prepared, full-flavored, creative dishes as slow-roasted pork, poached hake, and curried goat could be offered in an elegant lower Manhattan restaurant where everyone from the busters to the cooks and servers had an ownership stake might seem unlikely. But we were all former restaurant workers from the restaurant at the top of the World Trade Center who had survived 9-11 and had gone on to form the Restaurant Opportunities Center – the country’s largest restaurant worker organization - and that seemed unlikely too. So here we were, serving Philippine lobster lumpia and a squash risotto under a mural of the world, joined by the hope that through finely prepared food, we could both serve and rebuild our community. Frank Bruni,The New York Times restaurant critic said, “If Hollywood producers deemed restaurants as ripe for emotional drama … there would be a half-dozen competing projects in the works about COLORS …. [I]t has an inspirational back story, a genesis in tragedy, an arc of resurrection.”

Five years and thousands of memorable meals later, we’re still passionately serving our community in every way we can – from creative, full-flavored fare made from the finest local ingredients, to professional training and cooperative business start-up programs that put our neighbors back to work, to a people’s space that is open to all. From New York to Detroit, COLORS restaurants are nourishing our communities, one meal at a time.

What it comes down to is something that we all want and need. We call it Just. Good. Food. – food that tastes great, that’s great for you, and that you can feel great about. It’s just that simple and just that good. We invite you to join us at our table!

COLORS restaurants are a social enterprise of Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (ROC-United), the nation’s largest restaurant worker organization dedicated to improving opportunities in the industry for workers, consumers, and employers.

At Colors, we reflect our diverse workforce through the global cuisine we serve. We offer small plates of a variety cuisines that span the globe and hope to make a truly communal dining experience by introducing you to exciting, new flavors that change with the seasons. — We are committed to sourcing localized, traceable products from small to mid-sized farms that are invested in the quality and integrity of their products. We have set a 50% food buy goal from traceable sources and our beverage offerings reflect small-batch, local, organic, and/or sustainable production. — We are a worker cooperative that enables workers through self-governance and stands for better working conditions, improved wages, racial equality, and career mobility in the restaurant industry. By proving that restaurants can provide better wages and working conditions while still making a profit, Colors hopes to serve as a model for other restaurants.