offthemenu

by Juliet Fletcher

Call it chain proaction. In what feels like a pointed reversal of usual business, a food chain which originated outside the U.S. has just opened its first store in America — in Philadelphia.

Maoz, pronounced mah-ohz, distances itself from the fast-food model. After all, their staple ingredient is falafel. That doesn't seem odd, until you realize that the company originated in Holland, where it has eight outlets. But the chain's origins help explain how it ended up taking root here.

Shai Benarouche, owner and manager of the store on South between Second and Third, moved here from Israel two years ago and immediately noticed the range of dining options. Well, not quite. "I thought, Where is all the food?" Benarouche admits, remembering how few foods available here were familiar to him. Of course, falafel was something he knew well, and in a further twist, he describes the head of the Maoz chain as "my best friend." His franchise opened on May 1.

Benarouche's store almost feels smaller than it is on account of its dizzily colorful walls, where orange lines map connections between Philadelphia, Amsterdam and other far-flung cities. There's just about an area of seating — five or six stools cluster around the window. The menu similarly exemplifies cheerful simplicity: The large option (better eaten seated) is the Maoz salad ($3) — a clamshell-shaped container loaded with options such as homemade tabbouleh, carrots, coleslaw and fried cauliflower. Most customers, though, leave with a Maoz sandwich ($3.75), falafel balls with hummus or eggplant tucked into fresh pita.

Maoz was founded to offer quick dishes that suit a vegetarian lifestyle, and healthy options pop up around the store, from Belgian steak-cut fries (which absorb less oil than stringy), to crunchy slices of cucumber with basil, to the high-maintenance orange juicer, operated by hand. (This seems so arduous, you're tempted to hop over the counter and help out the server.)

But, exhausted shoulders notwithstanding, the relaxed, DIY aesthetic of the salad bar suggests Maoz is designed to tick over efficiently, even as hungry customers line up past the door (painted with larger-than-lifesize fruit designs) into the street. So what stands out is Benarouche's delight in details, careful or personal and about as far from the traditional "chain" mentality as it's possible to imagine: the Moroccan carrots (spiced with cumin and garlic) he remembers from his mother; the falafel are cooked in fresh oil to order; and the pita, he believes, must be "cooked … with love."

Maoz, 248 South St. 215-625-3500, www.maoz.nl