The Working Man’s Lunch at Pita Palace

My Little Foodie is a hard working little man. In fact, he has been earning his keep since he was 6 months old. Now you might be wondering how this could be, given that his father is an employment attorney who should know something about Georgia’s child labor laws. I, however, am a psychologist who learned through many years of research how difficult it is to recruit participants for research in the social sciences. So every few months, we spend a few hours with amazing clinicians at Marcus Autism Center as part of the control group for a longitudinal, ground-breaking study looking at developmental differences between typically developing babies and those that are high risk for ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorder). Through a series of assessments including a cool eye tracking component, Little A watches a variety of programming (Baby Einstein, Sesame Street, etc.) while tiny infrared cameras track his eye movements. Typically developing children will focus on a person’s eyes more often than children with autism. This small difference in attention can help screen children who are at risk for developmental delays such as those caused by autism.

After each session (in which Little A is compensated for his time and participation), along with many Marcus, CDC, and Emory employees, Little A treats for lunch at Pita Palace. He is always down for what I consider to be the best falafel in the city at this Kosher dive that has an extremely loyal following. Order a succulent shwarma sandwich of chicken and lamb cooked rotisserie style and load up on the rainbow of delicious veggies at the salad bar. You can’t go wrong with some Israeli salad, a variety of cabbages, delicious Israeli pickles, and sinful fried eggplant and fried pita chips. Make sure the friendly staff includes some fresh hummus, baba ganoush, tehina, or amba (pickled mango sauce) in your sandwich. It is the perfect way to recover from a hard morning’s work!

Fresh Shwarma Shaved Off the Spit

The unlimited salad bar can be a meal in of itself…

Little A enjoys his falafel decomposed.

If you are pregnant or have a baby under 3 months and want more information as to how you can enroll for the study at Marcus Autism Center, click here.