Fries with Your Falafel?

A few days back, while waiting for a bus on the corner of Oakland and Locust here in Milwaukee, I ran into a young woman handing out promotional flyers for Shiraz, a nearby Middle Eastern restaurant. I took one of the flyers and had a good laugh because it promised to the bearer - I swear - a free order of French fries with their lunch or dinner! Two older men who received a flyer and walked past me were audibly puzzling over the offer. In a thick Russian accent, one asked the other, "Why is Shiraz giving away French fries?"

That same day when I got home, there were some bright pink flyers in the mail bin at my apartment complex. I grabbed one and took it upstairs. It was a promotional menu for William Ho's, a longtime Chinese eatery in suburban Shorewood. Emblazoned on the front page was the offer of free buffalo wings - yes, buffalo wings - to those who purchased two dinners (or something to that effect).

"Assimilation has its limits, dammit!" cracked a friend, who is a fellow lover of non-American foods.

I wanted to end this blog with some witty comment like, "What's next, a burger with your Pad Thai?" But the reality is already too funny.

"Some fries with your falafel?"

"Some buffalo wings with your won ton?"

Whatever gets 'em through the door, I guess . . .