The Goodness Land Middle Eastern & Mediterranean Food Restaurant

I discovered The Goodness Land on Michele R's business blog on local businesses and thought that this placed sounded amazing by her reviews (I am big fan of her reviews!) and looked at their Yelp page. There are many positive reviews on this location. I looked at the many photos and came across the owners Yelp page where he has over 400 photos posted. I looked at nearly everyone! I am someone who WANTS to be someone who tries new stuff, but I have an issue with trying new things-- I'm working on it because I want to experience all that life has to offer.

Now onto the establishment.

I. Parking and Front Walk Way-- Good ample parking in a medium parking lot shared with other businesses. When you walk to the front of the building the ground up front has wonderful affirmations and words of wisdom that people leave written in chalk (see my photos). It was heartwarming to read some of the messages. I was limited on time, or I would have left my thoughts. So far, I was loving this place. I'm a passionate, sensitive Anthropologist who likes that yucky love stuff and seeing life to it's fullest. Positivity and love go a long way.

2. Indoor-- I walked in and was immediately was greeted by the owner, which I recognized from Yelp. I looked at all many of his photo's the night before and his smile made me feel as if I knew him. I liked that. I walked to the counter and looked at the menu. You order like a fast food counter. The order taker is right in front of the kitchen, so you get to watch them cook and see the cleanliness/lack there of-- this place was clean-- nothing to worry about there. The woman that took my order was very nice. She wrote my order in Arabic and I thought that was beautiful to watch. The written language is very elegant, to me, and I enjoyed watching her write it. There is also a guest book that you can sign and look at other peoples words and thoughts, which really made me feel that this place certainly is GOODNESS LAND, and these people are awesome! Once you order, you set down. You don't pay until the end, or at least that's how we did it. There was, albeit very low, Arab music playing. I would have liked to hear the music a little louder.

3. Seating and inside-- Very interesting, cultural, with warmheartedness and beauty. The owners have done a good job working on the place and making a warm feeling environment. There are a lot of seating that was spacious. The booths were large and would accommodate people that are larger. I am a big guy, but even I had to lean forward because there was so much room. This may be hard on smaller or older people, but it was fine for me.

4. Food-- I am a special eater since having a Gastric Sleeve in April 2017; therefore, I don't eat much and usually just share a plate with my dining companion. However, I decided that I would order an À la carte, kebab. I didn't think of it being a different culture than I am used to. The kebab wasn't anything that I was used to and it was lamb. I tried it, took a bite, and decided it wasn't for me-- however, the flavor was good, and the presentation was beautiful, which my taste buds and mind has nothing to do with this establishment-- they did very well. I gave it to my dining companion who really enjoyed it. He had the lamb sandwich and really enjoyed it. I got the Mediterranean salad, and it was flavorful and good. The olives had pits and I wasn't prepared for that and when I bit down I had a sharp pain in my jaw-- Again, it's me, I didn't know the olives would have pits. I've had olives in a Mediterranean salad from Gyro shack and they didn't have pits. Needless to say, the salad had good presentation and good taste, with fresh ingredients.

All-in-all, I am glad I went and I would recommend this place. When my diet opens up to where I can eat more foods, such as carbs, I would like to come back here again.