A little kindness, they say, goes a long way. At least that’s the hope of entrepreneur Anastasia Pendley, who is using the unlikely ingredient of kindness as the foundation for a fledgling business in downtown Bowling Green.

Pendley, as an outgrowth of the Zest Juice business she bought last fall, opened Café Kindness at 937 College St., the former home of JD’s Bakery, in March.

With couches and chairs that would be more at home in a living room than a restaurant and a menu that eschews your typical burger-and-fries fare, Pendley’s startup brings some unique decor and meal options to downtown.

Open for breakfast and lunch, Café Kindness offers oatmeals and toasted sourdough bread topped with such healthy ingredients as avocado, strawberries, bananas, cinnamon and honey.

“Everything is designed to treat your body kindly,” Pendley said. “It’s not a complicated menu. It’s designed so that you don’t feel weighed down when you leave.”

That lighter fare fits perfectly with Pendley’s vision for the restaurant and her background that includes a bout with an eating disorder.

“I believe we should steward our bodies kindly,” said Pendley, a 26-year-old who earned a degree in public health at Western Kentucky University. “I enjoy healthy eating, and I just like to make food for people.”

Getting to the point where she could make that food at Café Kindness took a little struggle and more than a little kindness from Pendley’s friends and family.

“When I purchased Zest, I had nowhere to go to make the juice or serve the juice,” said Pendley, who now has five employees. “The Hot Rods (minor league baseball team) opened their kitchen for me, and the Knotty Pretzel (which had a store on East Main at the time) allowed me to sell my juice there. It all worked out.”

Opening a full-blown restaurant, though, took a little more effort.

Fortunately for Pendley, her parents Wes and Sophie McAdams purchased the 937 College St. building and leased it to her as a location both for Zest Juice and Café Kindness.

It was an easy decision, said Wes McAdams, owner of Bowling Green’s Best One Fleet Service business on Tobacco Road.

“This gives her the chance to expand what she was already doing,” he said. “Her mother and I both believe in her. Her work ethic is unbelievable.”

Café Kindness has Pendley’s fingerprints on everything from its decor to its menu and is a tribute to her work ethic and Christian faith.

Even the names of the restaurant’s smoothie offerings have their roots in the Bible.

Aiming to label each of the fruit-based drinks after the nine fruits of the spirit that are spelled out in the New Testament book of Galatians, Pendley has already come up with concoctions entitled Love, Peace, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control.

Joy, Kindness, Goodness and Patience are still to come, along with some more menu offerings.

“Anastasia has a great relationship with God,” Sophie McAdams said. “She has always had that.

“She never got into this business with the thought that she would make all kinds of money. She loves people and loves helping them. I’m just happy that she has found something she enjoys.”

Pendley, who can be found at various times operating the juicer, making one of the toast dishes or serving customers, is enjoying the new business, but she says getting it open was only half the battle.

“We have a limited menu now,” she said. “We’re slowly adding items. My goal is to have a seasonal rotation of lunch items.”

As she builds the menu, Pendley is also building a customer base around her dream of making Café Kindness “feel like home.”

“We’re getting business people from downtown and college students,” she said. “We haven’t done a lot of advertising, but people are coming in for our quick and healthy meals.

“It’s such a good feeling. I feel lucky to be here.”