Brother Juniper’s College Inn offers the best breakfast in Memphis, according to Memphis Magazine, the Memphis Flyer, Where the Locals Eat and CitySearch.Com.
Jonathan and Pauline Koplin, the restaurant’s owners, offer a unique breakfast nook that goes far beyond good food.
Brother Juniper’s is a missionary-based restaurant that has evolved from the spiritual brotherhood community in late 1960s San Francisco. It was originally an outreach to street people on Haight Street, but the concept remains - a place where anyone can get nutritious food at a reasonable price with friendly service.
Since the restaurant is located so close to campus, it gets a lot of student and professor traffic.
“It has been great, and the community has been wonderful,” Koplin said. “Students, professors, businessmen and other people from all walks of life come here. They come from all over, even from Collierville and Mississippi.”
Beyond the restaurant itself, Brother Juniper’s has always been known for its homemade bread.
In March 2001, the Koplins rented the space at 524 S. Highland St. and launched their vision of a nonprofit bakery.
The Juniper Bakery and Apprenticeship Program is now in danger of closing because they are being forced from their building.
After falling behind in rent, the Junior League of Memphis saved the bakery with a $4,800 grant, but the property owners still refuse to rent to the Juniper Bakery.
The Koplins are offering the bakery a rent-free property next door to Brother Juniper’s restaurant at 3519 Walker Ave., but they need $147,000 to pay for renovations.
On the Rise, the fundraising campaign to save the bakery, has already received $60,000 from the Assisi Foundation of Memphis, the Buckman Trust and Cell Genesys, but the Koplins said they still have a long way to go. They are currently seeking corporate sponsorship to help make up the rest of the deficit.
“The business owners were insistent that they wanted us out,” Pauline Koplin said. “We’re very committed to this neighborhood and improving the quality of life here.”
The bakery and apprenticeship program takes apprentice referrals from social services, churches and even from people off the street. They bring them in and teach them the art of baking bread, as well as life skills and job readiness.
“The greater vision is an apprenticeship village,” Koplin said. “We hope to add furniture manufacturing and refinishing, maybe even a school, all based on the concept of servitude.”
The Koplins have been in Memphis for three and a half years and bought the restaurant from close friends who moved to Alaska to do missionary work. They have always been involved in Christian missionary work, starting with the spiritual brotherhood in 1970s San Francisco.
There is a fundraiser on Friday night at Newby’s on S. Highland St. for the On the Rise foundation with a silent auction, bluegrass and folk music. Admission to the fundraiser is $10.
After 10 p.m., the band Snowglobe will play live rock music and admission is $5.
