About two years ago, we wrote about a Texas-based burger chain called Mooyah that wanted to conquer our crowded Southern California fast-casual burger scene and compete with Five Guys, The Habit, and Smashburger along with our indigenous favorite, In-N-Out.
Now it appears they're finally going to open one.
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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 we were sent back when we wrote the original article, he and his company were originally going to start with a store in LA and expand from there. So far only two stores have opened in California (in Northern California towns called Morgan Hill and Walnut Creek). The plans to open in LA never materialized. It appears that the Irvine location, which is planned for Alton Square (located at Alton and Jeffrey) will be the first Southern California location.
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.”
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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.