Moe's Southwest Grill
A week isn’t complete w/out news of another restaurant chain bringing more conveyor-belt vittles. This one’s Moe’s Southwest Grill, an Atlanta outfit specializing in "fresh-Mex" – basically burritos & stuff - but w/ fresh, from-scratch ingredients (none o that pre-cooked chicken chunkola), vegetarian items, and tofu (following the lede of Pei Wei). The first local outposts are in Plano and Irving, 2B followed by Dallas, Austin, & Lubbock. Raving Brands, the parent co., is a franchise whiz whose other Concepts include Mama Fu’s Asian, Planet Smoothie, PJ’s Coffee, Shane’s Rib Shack, Doc Green’s Gourmet Salads, & Boneheads Seafood. Sheesh any cuisine not covered there?
4700 w. park blvd. (at preston, of course), plano. 469-241-0393
6550 N. MacArthur Boulevard (at royal), irving. 972-444-0474
posted by TG @ 4:02 PM
20 comments
20 Comments:
I'M A BURRITO!
Oregon-based Mo's Restaurants filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Moe's Southwest Grill in federal court. Founded in 1952, Mo's operates six restaurants on the Oregon coast. Moe's Southwest Grill opened its first Oregon restaurant in April and is aggressively expanding, with plans to open at least 20 more restaurants in Oregon through its Pacific Northwest franchise holder.
twisted d: you're not a burrito, you're a pussycat.
T.G., are you going to that Tofu Festival? It's in L.A.
I'm intrigued by Doc's Gourmet Salads. Do you know if it's a Souper Salads kind of place, or is it something more upscale than that?
I'M INTRIGUED BY YOUR GENERAL LACK OF INTELLIGENCE.
methinks Twisted Dog needs to be put on a leash. down boy! roll over! PLAY DEAD!
nice to find a link to a ron ruggless item and know that he is still writing. otherwise, isn't this report a bit dated? haven't they been open long enough you could have visited and given us a first-hand report -- as you ALWAYS do when it's a new Starbucks beverage.
wow i had no idea moe's was around that long. maybe the irving store's been around a while - i don't get out there much - but the plano store told me they'd just opened, and boy, the minute i found out about it, i didn't want to delay my posting for even the extra day it would've taken me to run over there and sample!
as for starbucks, the great thing (as i'm sure you know) is that there's a sufficient number of branches that a person doesn't have to go too far out of her way to sample their fine new product offerings. altho i admit, i'm not enchanted w/ the green tea frapp. the malt option, however, as we ALL knonw, RULES
tg: by the logic you use to explain away your EXCESSIVE starbucks postings, we should expect regular items on mcdonald's, burger king, et al
well when it comes to fast-food places, i try to focus on the most forward-thinking players and that's pretty much confined to Jack in the Box (altho i'd willingly write about Sonic too - they're almost as clever and innovative as JITB. has there been any new stuff at Sonic lately?)
We have a Moe's in Winston Salem, NC and it's pretty darn good. Sort of reminded me of Qdoba (If you've heard of them).
"has there been any new stuff at Sonic lately"
That island flavored burger they had for a while looked pretty good.
NYCE likes Qdoba. ya know why? cuz Qdoba is part of JACK IN THE BOX. yay! yay for jack in the box. and starbucks, too.
we actually have 4 branches of Qdoba in the dallas area and i'm ashamed to admit i've never been.
i'm grateful for the captain's first-person testimony re: Moe's. i got the feeling they were pretty good, based on their pledge that they use fresh ingredients, grill their meat on the premises, etc. and anyone that's adding tofu to the menu is OK by me
Is the tofu at Moe's the same kind of tofu at Pei Wei? I find the tofu at Pei Wei to be very good. T.G., you never answered my question - are you going to that Tofu Festival?
jeez, no i'm not going to the goddamned tofu festival. just cuz i post a link doesn't mean i vouch for it personally. that said, it does look like kindof a cool event. you go and report back to us
i like the tofu at pei wei too, which is why i went out of my way to mention it. my friend stacy likes it too, and she's a discriminating customer
you do know that moe's already has had a dallas location, right? they had one at beltline and preston, where fadi's is currently. there was also a mamma fu's there. the franchisee in dallas (who also owns the hooter's stores here i think), decided it wasn't really their gig. so, no mo moe's (at least from that franchisee. i know they've been trying to sell the area to someone else; the original agreement was, i believe for 25 or so stores.
doc green's? a little more upscale that souper salads, with custom made salads, but no salad bar. they also have meat/chicken entrees, sandwiches and the like. good, but not as good as GREENZ (uptown and addison locations!). shane's is supposed to be bueno as well.
the moe's guys (and gals) know what they are doing. they've taken the world by storm, opening over 400 restaurants in only 4-5 years.
i gotta admit, i prefer freebirds to the Q or moe's (i've worked for a few moe's franchisees). all of the raving concepts are good, but nothing beats a monster freebird built your way, on your type of tortilla (no choices at Q or Moe's) and the great atmosphere. good article about freebird's this week in nations' restaurant news. (tg: why the fixation on JIB? have you seen their new concept, JBX?
trivia question: where did freebirds start out? (hint: not college station...or anywhere in texas!)
hey david, thanks for this comment of yours, jam-packed-with-info.
i do remember seeing a moe's before but i thought it maybe wasn't the same thing. so i guess they have a new franchisee?
it's cool that you've actually been to all these burrito places. do you think they're more focused on big eaters (ie, "males")? so where DID freebirds start out? give us the scoop!
i heart JITB because: they're innovative. risk-takers. the quality is high (their salads are better than any other fast-food place and are only $4.79); they use good, semi-upscale ingredients. i love bread and they always use interesting bread -from sourdough to the ciabatta bread in their pannidos (which are awesome w/ the imported salami and black forest ham, what other fast-food place is using that kind of stuff?) to the current ciabatta sandwiches - when most people didn't know what ciabatta was. they're quick to respond to current trends (the blueberry shake). and i love their ads, which are witty and talk UP to the consumer, not down.
thank you for providing me the opportunity to rave. you're TOO kind. and NO i know NOTHING about "jbx"! spill!
i'm not a big JIB fan, mainly b/c the quality varies so widely between stores. it's part of the bad part of having an old franchise network; franchisees don't adapt to new processes very well.
JBX is JIB's new concept. Think JIB-meets-Penera. The JIB sandwiches and salads carry over, but there are also panini and new sandwich options...as well as some new stuff. Currently there are probably 12 around the country, but I've heard Dallas is on the list to refurb around 1/2 of the JIB's into JBX's...
Freebirds started in Cali...thus the laid-back, alterna-culture.
Moe's skews heavily males, just like the burger joints ('cept backyard burgers). I bet 65% of their traffic is male, minimum. I also bet they'd never admit it!
DPG
i do hope david the franchise king will keep NYCE apprised on any DFW JBX action
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