The story of Rabbi Ted Riter who wanted a Greek salad but was reportedly refused on religious grounds has become a big issue in the U.S. media. The rabbi went to Wraps on Northside Drive for lunch and claims to have tried to order a Greek salad when the owner used an anti-Semitic slur and threw him out of the restaurant. The hype has been so great that efforts are being made to tide things over in a meeting between the rabbi and the Greek restaurant owner.

Rabbi Ted Riter. All he wanted was a Greek Salad!

The restaurant’s owner Yiannis Allis claims that the entire incident was a misunderstanding: “I said, ‘Greek salad or Jew?’ We have different salads. We have Carlito’s Way Salad. We have Grecian Salad. We have Jewish Salad. We have Greek Salad. We have Cesar Salad – we have a lot of salads.”

An argument between the rabbi and the restaurant owner ensued when the rabbi asked what the difference was between the Greek salad and the Jewish one only to be told that the establishment has two portion sizes: a regular and a Jewish one that was “small and cheap” like Jews.

From there, the discussion went downhill with the rabbi eventually getting kicked out of the restaurant. “Expletives, F-bombs, and since I’d never been the recipient of that before, I was in shock, so I didn’t register it until the second or third time he told me to leave,” said Rabbi Riter.

The Greek boss has another story. “The guy said he didn’t want to do any business with us. He was probably offended because we offer different salads, that’s all,” he said.

With Jews all over the world entering the High Holy Days fo the new Jewish year, the rabbi is going to make an effort to discuss the issue and hopefully unwrap the goodness of a Greek gyros. On his part, Allis is even considering to rename a salad in honor of the rabbi – the new Riter Salad.