Sunday, March 20, 2011

Maoz is Great, People are Gross.

Utilizing the basic tenets of both art and architecture, I have become a (self-proclaimed) Maoz salad-building aficionadoFalafel, hummus, eggplant, broccoli, cauliflower, chick peas, purple cabbage, tabouli, and beet-dyed baby eggplants (!): as long as it doesn't contain cilantro, it's in there.

Come on, you can't help but to admire this masterpiece.
I have mastered filling my salad bowl to capacity with salad bar fixins because common hygienic sense dictates that you only have one go at the bar: PRIOR to digging in.  I thought everyone knew this; however, on a recent visit I was chagrined, then disgusted, by the multiple return trips I witnessed by fellow diners who thought nothing of continually returning to the bar to refill their partially eaten pitas: communal serving spoons dangling perilously close to their saliva-laden bite marks.  This is not okay, people.  We all want to get the most for our money, but trying to do so in this most germ-tastic way is not acceptable

I know Maoz is concerned about cleanliness because their bar is always neat, tidy, and fresh; but as further proof that the company is as terrific as their eats, I received a response to my outrage within minutes of posting my review on Yelp: with a confirmation that there is indeed a one-visit salad bar policy and that Maoz restaurants do their best to enforce it and will do more.  So thank you, Maoz.  I am a big fan of your establishment and want to continue to visit.  Beware, gross people.  If I see you contaminating my salad bar I will call you out tell on you.

On a brighter note, I had received an email that this particular Maoz was offering an anniverary gift with purchase, but I'd forgotten about it by the time I'd reached the store.  While I was waiting in line I noticed that they had added assorted candy bars to their refrigerated section: marble halvah, chocolate-coated halvah, and-- what was that?  A vegan, chocolate-covered wafer cookie bar.  SOLD!


To my surprise, the free gift was actually a choice of the three candies; how nice that they didn't forget their vegan customers when it came to dessert!  If one more restaurant offers me a bowl of fresh fruit...  Maoz, please continue to rule.  People, please cease being nasty.  That is all for now.

How have I never before noticed this adorableness on my receipt?

8 comments:

  1. Ms. Bean,
    We appear to be people of different tastes. You like blenders that don't work; I don't, You don't like healthy food; I do, You hate carrot cake; I love it. And now this... You only do I trip to the salad bar? I assure you, that its sanitary. According to Myth Busters double dipping is a myth. There is already so many germs within the food that this sort of contact doesn't even register on tests. I will continue to be a multi-trip salad bar goer.

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  2. I wish we had a Maoz in Seattle. I've been to the one in Boca Raton and it was great — no returns witnessed.

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  3. I had a Maoz salad for lunch last week and am still thinking about it. The crispy broccoli smothered in tahini sauce is definitely the best part.

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  4. Hi AbbY! I actually want to go to Maoz when we are in NY this next weekend! Thanks for the heads-up!

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  5. Anthony, the only way a return trip to a salad bar is sanitary is if you are using a new plate. If someone slobbers all over their sammie & then touches the communal serving spoon to it whilst illegally refilling, they are contaminating said spoon with personal germs; you may as well just lick everyone else's plates while you're at it. I stand by my original assessment: gross & unacceptable. If I see you making an unauthorized trip to a salad bar OR double dipping, there will be consequences. I call on all the germ-phobes of the world to band together to erradicate such inappropriate behavior from the universe. Cleanliness will prevail.

    Andrea, it's so good! Ha- I'm glad you didn't witness any bad behavior :-( Obviously Anthony doesn't live near you.

    Diane, the broccoli & cauliflower are the best (b/c someone else washed & roasted it!) but those baby eggplants...yum

    Noelle, I hope you have an extraordinary trip & congratulations on your excellent news ;-)

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  6. First off, you are crazy. But we all already know that, right?

    Secondly how is it any different than refilling a drink at a soda fountain machine? It's not. Just as the soda fountain doesn't or shouldn't come into contact with the straw the serving spoon does not come into contact with my slobbered on plate. Or what about adding more ketchup to a plate that has already been eaten on. Is there a difference? None that I can detect. There fore, I repeat I will continue to take second and maybe even third trips.


    "The act of double dipping is the equivalent of putting the microbes in your mouth into the dip as if all of the dip were put in your mouth.

    busted

    In their experiment, the MythBusters used chips with regular dip and salsa. In the control test, they put the untouched dip and salsa into petri dishes, and followed with double dipped dip and salsa, and finally dip and salsa that had been put in Adam and Jamie’s mouths. However, when they examined their results, they found that the dip and salsa were already loaded with microbes. For a more accurate experiment, the MythBusters were forced to sterilize all their testing materials with radiation and create a sterile environment. Examining the results, the MythBusters found that double dipping produced less microbes than putting all the dip in your mouth. Also, the amount of microbes present after double dipping was negligible compared to the amount found in regular dip."

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  7. Anthony, you're right: re-filling at a soda fountain can be just as gross. Same with ketchup, but there you've gone too far! I prefer to imagine that all ketchup bottles are self-sterilizing (hot sauce too).

    Ultimately, I'm not buying what you're selling. And bear in mind that if you keep coming up with examples of equal grossness I will never eat out again.

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  8. One more thing: while I appreciate that you do not touch the public utensil to your partially eaten food, I can't imagine that everyone is that fastidious.

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