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Moo Cluck Moo
By Esther Allweiss Ingber
n
Specializing in Cosmetic Surgery &
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DANIEL SHERBERT, M.D. FAGS
Certified by The American Board of Surgery, The American Board of
Plastic Surgery & fellowship Trained in Aesthetic & Reconstructive
Breast Surgery
(248) 865-6400
5807 W. Maple • Suite 177 • West Bloomfield
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oo Cluck Moo (such a cute
name!) is attracting media
attention for being a "different"
kind of fast-food operation. Lo-
cated in Dearborn Heights, it offers
much-higher-than-average wages
for employees along with healthier
food and beverage options.
Because I'm interested in these
things, I naturally had to see this
place for myself. It was an easy
drive from Oakland County to the
tiny storefront on the east side of
Telegraph, just past Joy Road. Moo
Cluck Moo, shorthand for"beef,
poultry and dairy"— the brief
menu's specialties — is neighbors
with a muffler shop and a tattoo
parlor.
No, wait! It gets better.
Compared to most fast-food
workers — including an estimated
53,000 in Metro Detroit — Moo
Cluck Moo employees are content-
ed cows and chickens. (Or bulls and
roosters? They were at work in the
open kitchen.) Their counterparts in
60 cities across the U.S. have partici-
pated lately in strikes to protest be-
ing paid the federal minimum wage
of $7.25 an hour, or a little beyond
that. By contrast, Moo Cluck Moo
founders Brian Parker and Harry
Moorhouse will be improving their
staff pay to $15 hourly, the so-called
"living wage," on Oct. 1.This is up
from the current $12.
In spite of higher-than-average
employee pay, business is booming
here to the point that six or seven
additional locations are anticipated,
according to managing partner Alan
Fisher. The Moo Cluck Moo experi-
ence is proving that restaurant own-
ers and chains can still make a profit
when they pay workers better, and
food quality doesn't have to suffer.
Take that, McDonald's and Burger
King!
Opened this year on April 6, Moo
Cluck Moo is basically a carryout
place. There's no public restroom
and limited seating. Parking places
aren't plentiful. However, with ac-
claimed Chef Jimmy Schmidt as the
menu consultant, this clearly is no
ordinary fast food joint. The fine din-
ing background of Fisher includes
working at Opus One, the gourmet
restaurant formerly in Detroit.
"We decided to create a place for
people who love these things as
much as we do,"the restaurant web-
site states."And we wanted to make
it memorable. In a world saturated
with fast-food choices, our solution
is better food fast..."
I tried the Notorious Cluck ($6),
a large chicken breast dipped in
buttermilk, lightly breaded and flash
fried. It's topped with crunchy cole-
slaw on a house-baked, gluten-free
bun. The chicken was tender and
tasty; I'd choose it again.
Moo Cluck Moo uses hormone-
and steroid-free natural chicken and
Angus beef. The Moo Burger ($3)
and double-sized Bigger Moo ($5)
have their fans, and either can be
ordered as a Skinny Moo, wrapped
in lettuce instead of in a bun.
For a change, try the Big Shroom,
a Portobello mushroom with Grana
Padano cheese, spring greens and
savory Moo sauce, or one of the
monthly creations, showing off the
kitchen's newest ideas. The Blaz-
ing Moo, a hot one, is topped with
pepper-jack cheese, green chili and
chipotle aioli.
Garlic fries ($2.50) are popular for
their delicious, garlicky taste. The
really yellow color comes from using
red palm fruit and sunflower oil. Sea
salt fries are another option.
You'll never find a fast-food milk
shake as delicious or with such
good consistency as the Fat Cow.
The chocolate, vanilla and black
cherry shakes, and the black cherry
ice cream float, all $4, are made with
Calder's Dairy ice cream from Lin-
coln Park. The soda pop ($2) here is
sweetened with cane sugar instead
of high fructose corn syrup, and
there are free refills.
Open 11 a.m. till roughly 8 p.m.
daily, Moo Cluck Moo is becoming
known far and wide.
"A man in France who read about
us in the [online] Huffington Post
and liked what we're doing, called
to say,'I'll cross the pond for your
burgers,;" Fisher said.
MOO CLUCK MOO
8606 N. Telegraph Road
Dearborn Heights, MI 48127
(313) 562-9999
www.moocluckmoo.com
$ out of $$$$$
Monday thru Thursday 9AM-9PM I Friday 9AM-6PM I Saturday 9AM-4PM
24 October 2013 I
RLD THREAD
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