A Free Lunch?
By Bill Korbel
I was in the Roosevelt Field Mall recently and after wandering around with my wife for a couple of hours looking for some new shirts and ties, we decided to head for the food court. If you are familiar with the mall, you know the food court is rectangular in shape and I would estimate it’s about 400 feet around. It’s big.
So, what to eat? There are so many choices. We began walking around.
First there was Ranch 1 which offered samples of it’s fried chicken. Not at all bad. But we kept walking. Next up was Sakkie with their terriaki chicken. Also good, if a touch salty. Right around the corner was Cafe Spice which offered a sample of curried chicken. I’m not a big fan of Indian food, so I passed. But alongside Cafe Spice was one of my favorite mall eateries: The Big Easy with samples of bourbon chicken. I do like their chicken, but after sampling a couple of pieces wasn’t quite sure that was what I wanted.
We continued walking. The Texas Barbeque Factory was also very interested in having us taste their version of chicken, and since i didn’t want to disappoint then I accepted yet another sample. What is it with all this chicken? Still we weren’t through. After almost completing our counter clockwise circumnavigation of the food court we came to Asia Chao (I think that was it). Their offering was a very tasty Orange Chicken. Hmmm. This could be the one. Trouble was, neither of us was still hungry. So, we headed back across the mall to the opposite end where we had parked and guess what. We had dessert. Chock Full O Nuts was handing out samples of cinnamon sticks. Delicious little fried dough pastries that really hit the spot after a long and tiring half hour of scarfing down free samples.
So, it would seem, that at least at the Roosevelt Field Mall, there is such a thing as a free lunch.
Bill Korbel
June 29th, 2009 at 2:45 pm
For the most part, the food served in the food courts of malls are sugar glazed, high salt and very high carb.
Skip all the free samples and buy something healthier for yourself.
June 29th, 2009 at 4:07 pm
Ah, that reminds me of my college years, when we’d plan entire shopping trips around the samples. I don’t think the pickings were ever that good, though.
I hope you went to CostCo for dinner.
June 30th, 2009 at 9:13 pm
Lighten up, Tex.
When you were shuffling along this mortal plane kids had Captain Crunch for breakfast, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch, and Chef Boyardi ravioli for supper.