Dishin’: Forgettable Fairuz and the Fate of Free Food

Every summer, Seattlest caves in and buys a deeply discounted Entertainment Book full of coupons valid for the rest of the year. We throw it in the back of the car and tell ourselves that if we redeem just one coupon for a meal, we’ll recoup our Alexander Hamilton.

Then each year, we end up using it more than we like. “It’ll be a bargain, so let’s try somewhere new,” we think. But these aren’t places that would ordinarily interest us. And, while theoretically offering a second meal free, you always have to pay for the higher-priced entree, sometimes face a monetary limit on the free one, and still have to pay tax and tip on the full value. Not such a great deal, especially when we shake our heads and vow never to return to that particular restaurant.

One time, we found ourselves in the University District and the book led us to a place that was gone. (This happens more than you’d imagine.) In its place was Fairuz, which offered to accept some portion of the coupon. Well… if not for the photo, we’d barely remember what we ate. Looks like a Lebanese version of a meat patty plate, complete with potatoes (on rice) and chopped lettuce. The hummus was decent. And the menu had a story about the famous Fairuz – but we’ve forgotten it.

This year, we got the Entertainment Book earlier than usual – for free. But it’s the online version, which welcomingly is harder to use. We no longer reach for it when we’re driving, and instead choose places that have served us memorable meals in the past.