Unveiling Taziki's Mediterranean Cafe: Healthy or Hype?
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Chapter 1: The Origins of Taziki's Mediterranean Cafe
Taziki's Mediterranean Cafe originated in Alabama as a purportedly healthy option among the fast-casual dining scene in America. Founders Keith and Amy Richards conceived the idea for their restaurant after a memorable journey to Greece in 1997. The Taziki's website promotes health-conscious eating, highlighting whole ingredients and homemade meals. In 2015, Taziki's proudly became the first American restaurant chain to earn the REAL Certification from the United States Healthful Food Council. This designation assures customers that Taziki's is committed to serving meals rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, prioritizing local and organic ingredients while minimizing processed foods.
Taziki's also emphasizes its dedication to authenticity in Mediterranean cuisine. They assert their commitment to quality by stating, "Being a Greek restaurant, Taziki's refuses to settle for mediocre olive oil," and they take pride in sourcing their olive oil directly from Mediterranean producers to ensure an authentic dining experience. They even highlight the importance of location in determining the flavor of olive oil, going to great lengths to import it from Greece.
Ah, that all sounds appealing, doesn't it?
Previously, my daughter Sophie and I frequented our local Taziki's, but we stopped going due to high prices and frequent mistakes with our orders. When Sophie decided to adopt a vegan lifestyle in January, I thought it would be a good opportunity to revisit the restaurant. I was particularly interested in their children’s meals as a potentially healthy and affordable option for Sophie on busy days. However, I soon discovered that there were no vegan choices available on their kids' menu.
Restaurant staff, including the manager, provided me with suggestions for ordering a vegan meal, but these alternatives were often twice the price of a regular children's meal, unless I opted for four falafel patties with a side of hummus for dipping. That hardly constitutes a well-rounded meal.
Despite Taziki's adult-sized "feasts" offering a variety of entrée choices, including a more affordable falafel feast compared to the chicken feast, they refused to allow substitutions for the children's chicken meal. They also denied a swap of grilled veggies for chicken, despite the adult versions being priced the same.
While many adults appreciate Taziki's flexibility in meal substitutions, their children's menu remains disappointingly limited. It seems they underestimate kids' culinary preferences, offering only chicken, deli turkey, cheese, and white bread—without even attempting to encourage vegetable consumption.
Adult-sized feasts at Taziki's
The children's menu, devoid of veggies
This seemed odd for a restaurant that prides itself on health and dietary accommodations, including options for vegetarians and vegans. My curiosity about their health claims led me to explore their website further, where I found an interactive nutrition calculator detailing the ingredients in their dishes.
After examining the ingredients, I felt utterly misled. Even as a pescatarian, I had no clue how deceptive their meals were. Their claim about never settling for subpar olive oil turned out to be misleading; their olive oil is actually a blend, with canola oil as the first ingredient! It’s ironic that they emphasize importing quality olive oil from Greece while using more canola oil.
Delving deeper, I discovered that they incorporate a low-grade mayonnaise containing soybean oil and high fructose corn syrup. A significant amount of butter is added to many dishes, including their rice, grilled asparagus, and proteins like shrimp and salmon, contradicting the principles of a healthy Mediterranean diet, which typically favors extra virgin olive oil.
Moreover, soybean oil is a prevalent, yet unadvertised ingredient, found in their Greek salad dressing, while their signature Taziki Dip contains unexpected additives such as gelatin (making it non-vegetarian, likely derived from pork), carrageenan, corn syrup, and preservatives. These are precisely the ingredients many people are trying to avoid nowadays—certainly not what one would expect from an authentic Greek kitchen. Corn syrup even appears in some other menu items, including baklava.
Despite Taziki's insistence on sourcing from authentic Mediterranean suppliers, their feta cheese has been Americanized. They never mention using sheep or goat's milk, instead claiming it’s made in the traditional Greek style—only in Wisconsin. When a cheese label states "milk," it typically implies cow's milk, whereas genuine Greek feta is made from sheep's milk or a blend of sheep and goat's milk, both of which are often better tolerated by humans than cow's milk.
I couldn't help but laugh when I discovered that their so-called Buttermilk Bread contains no actual buttermilk—unless they consider the less than 2% lactic acid as buttermilk. Quite crafty, Taziki's! You’ve certainly managed to convince many Americans to pay a premium for meals that are marketed as made-from-scratch and genuinely nutritious Mediterranean fare.
Clearly, neither Sophie nor I are missing much from Taziki's Mediterranean Cafe, but I suspect many patrons would be shocked to learn the truth about what they are consuming.
Here are a few of those surprises, but you can find more details on their website.
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