If you think it's already a crowded fast-casual burger scene out there with the recent proliferation of Five Guys, The Habit, and Smashburger along with our indigenous favorite, In-N-Out; get ready for one more. Southern California, say howdy to Mooyah, an outfit that hails from Texas and boasts 24 restaurants in the Fort Worth area and getting bigger as we speak. The chain grew to 48 restaurants last year, nearly doubling its numbers. Now it has plans to invade Southern California.
]
Mooyah is headed by an ex-Quizno's developer who previously opened 75 Quiznos in Orange County some years ago. According to a press release, he and his company have plans to conquer the region starting with a store in LA and expand from there, including OC. They hope to open 15 franchises in California over the next five years and 35 over the next ten years.
The menu consists of everything you expect: burgers with a turkey, a veggie and even a protein-style alternative (read:lettuce leaf wrap). Other items include fresh-cut fries and ice cream shakes. Kinda sounds like the food offerings from…every other place I mentioned earlier. It does however tout an under-600-calorie menu which the press release states is “designed to support the taste desires of females and the health-conscious consumer.”
Follow Stick a Fork In It on Twitter @ocweeklyfood or on Facebook! And don't forget to download our free Best Of App here!
Before becoming an award-winning restaurant critic for OC Weekly in 2007, Edwin Goei went by the alias “elmomonster” on his blog Monster Munching, in which he once wrote a whole review in haiku.