NORWICH — The Norwich Community Kitchen serves free, hot meals to anyone in the community every Tuesday at St. Bartholomew's Parish Center, located at 81 East Main Street in Norwich. Doors open at 4 p.m., and at 5 p.m. they start serving dinner.

The weekly dinners are open to everyone who would like to stop by. Meals typically include an entree, a side, a vegetable, and dessert, as well as yogurt donated by Chobani. Drinks such as water, milk, juice, lemonade, tea, and coffee is also available.

"We don’t want to just serve a soup and a sandwich; we want to make sure they go home with a nice meal," said Norwich Community Kitchen Spokesperson JoAnn Testani. "We don’t turn anybody away, and we don’t ask questions. All they have to do is walk through the front door and sit down."

Past menus have included chicken and biscuits, burgers and fries, beef stew, barbecue chicken, macaroni and cheese, and more.

Tonight's meal will be spaghetti and meatballs. Menus can be found each week in several community Facebook groups.

Testani said volunteers also work hard to provide a comfortable and welcoming atmosphere. They celebrate the birthdays and anniversaries of regulars, and include seasonal additions such as candy or trick or treat bags around Halloween or annual Thanksgiving dinners.