My other kid is actually eating also! And hanging off her chair...oh well, at least she's happily eating! Yay!
So, a vegan, a wannabee-vegetarian, and two little picky sometimes-vegetarian/sometimes-meat-atarians walk into a restaurant…..
Okay, so here’s another post about feeding my family. Why? Because finding something that we all can eat, and that my little humans will actually eat, is an accomplishment! The struggle is real!
Eating out is always interesting. The kids basically just want macaroni and French fries. Pretty sure there are some food groups missing from that party. The hubby won’t eat anything made with any animal products, meaning no butter or any other kind of dairy, or really anything other than plant-based food. I try to eat vegetarian, but if there’s a southwest burrito with meat involved, all bets are off. What all this means is that it is VERY hard to eat out and make everyone happy.
Well, we have finally found the perfect place for us to eat out and so I need to share this place with you! This place works for: Vegetarians, Vegans, Carnivores, Health Nuts, Kids, EVERYONE. And it's sooooo delicious. And inexpensive. And the people there are just super nice!
I'm talking about Lentil Mediterranean Grill, which is in Royal Oak, Michigan! (I know that not everyone reading this lives in the area, but if you are ever in the area, I highly recommend this place.) It's set up like a Chipotle (or Qdoba, or Subway), but it's really yummy Middle Eastern food. Click here for their menu. And it is NOT a chain or franchise. At this point, it's just this one place owned by a family. Though, if you look around, the decor and atmosphere are really slick and modern, so it has the feel of a corporate chain.
Middle Eastern food is a great option for everyone. ANYONE can find something they love, even vegans! And if you like standing in line and watching your food being made and picking out everything that goes into it, this setup is awesome. When we have been here, the kids split a steak shawarma wrap and I have them make it with pickles, tomatoes, hummus, and lettuce. The hubby and I always get a falafel wrap (if you don't know what falafel is, it is a fried ball of ground up fava beans and chickpeas) because I'm TRYING hard to be vegetarian, and this is a good alternative to the meat - though I have definitely snuck pieces of the kids' steak, and it is delish). It's a filling meal and it's about the price of Qdoba/Chipotle. We also get to-go containers of hummus (theirs is one of the best we've had!) and tabbouli (translation: a chopped parsley salad – yes, there's more than just parsley). All the ingredients are fresh, you can totally tell. They also sell bottles of different ingredients/spices, their salad dressing, their pita chips (we have gotten both with-sea-salt and with-sugar, and their pita chips are SERIOUSLY addictive), along with other things.
Nick and I used to run up there and get a large fattoush salad because they make an awesome salad, and I seriously hate washing and cutting up vegetables, plus it's a good deal. We can split that thing, and it's a meal for each of us. The dressing is good too. I had this grand diet plan at one point that I was going to just go get one of their large fattoush salads every day, and then have half for lunch and half for dinner. Super healthy. Great price for 2 meals. Yummy. It was a good idea in theory...meaning it never actually took place.
And, one last thing I really like about it. The bathrooms are nice and big and CLEAN! This sounds like 1. A weird thing to write about, and 2. Something that should be a given. Well, 1. If you’re a parent to small children that you have to take in a public bathroom, this is NOT a weird thing to consider or write about, and 2. It is NEVER a given in a public bathroom, especially a “fast” food place. I know I canNOT be the only parent out there with kids that LOVE to go in public bathrooms. It doesn’t matter if they use them, but they just HAVE to go in there. Why? Because they absolutely must know if it has paper towels or an electric hand dryer...and if it has an electric hand dryer, just how loud is it?…seriously. Well, if you have to take children into a bathroom, this is the kind you want - no stalls, just one big room meant for one person. I usually have to squish me and the kids into a handicapped stall so there’s room for all of us, so I know what’s going on and so we don’t take up EVERY stall. And then I just hope nobody in a wheelchair rolls in at that moment because then I will feel extremely guilty for taking up their only stall. And in case you’re wondering, why do I have both kids with me in there? Because if one says they have to go, the other one immediately has to go (funny how that works, huh?) and of course, they both want to go with me. Clearly they think they get away with more with me…Anyway, enough about bathrooms….
Here are some pictures for you:
Part of their delicious looking dessert selection!
The wall of spices, dressing, flavorings that they sell.
And, just what exactly does this have to do with this restaurant? Well, when you're in line almost to the cash register, you are standing in front of the doorway to the kitchen. And you can see this holy family statuette on the wall facing into the kitchen. Why am I including this here? Because even though the atmosphere of the restaurant is very corporate and modern, it's nice to see something that shows that this place is actually run by a real family with real beliefs. And, side note, I asked the teenage working there if he could go in the kitchen and take this picture for me... and I'm pretty sure he thought I was a total weirdo.