Maoz Vegetarian has been open on Telegraph Avenue for 10 days, but already the reviews on Yelp are piling up.
“Holy crap this place is freaking good!”
“OMGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG, NOOO WAY,” said another reviewer. “They have these all over Europe and since I lived there for 5 months I have been dying for another one of these delicious falafels.”
“The falafel is awesome: fresh, flavorful and not greasy,” wrote another. “The salad bar is too, there was olives, roast pepper, chick peas, coleslaw… and now I’m realizing I’m much too lazy to list them all, but that was just the left quarter of the salad bar. Plus a few kinds of sauce.”
Well, after eating there Saturday night, I have to say I, too, am impressed. The food is certainly very good. The falafels are freshly baked and served in warm pita bread and there is a yogurt sauce that you can squeeze on top. Their Belgian pommes-frites were also delicious; we had the sweet potato variety. The salad toppings included a beet salad, marinated chickpeas, marinated carrots, and more.
Maoz, with its bright green and red motif, doesn’t exactly fit in with the funky décor on Telegraph Avenue, but maybe that is a good thing. The place feels clean and inviting. My 14-year old daughter commented that it really looked like a European chain, which it is, because of the pictures of happy smiling people on the walls.
It’s pretty cheap, too. A “meal deal” with a loaded falafel, fries and drink is $8.20. Interestingly, a “salad meal deal,” which comes without a falafel, costs more. You get a salad box and choice of two add-ons, like hummus, feta cheese, or babaganoush, for $8.95.
Maoz vegetarian was started by an Israeli couple while they were living in Amsterdam.
I will definitely return.
