Franchising

Mooyah opening in Times Square

Mooyah rolled out a new design earlier this year that will be featurd in the Times square flagship store. Provided

June 17, 2020

Mooyah Burgers, Fries & Shakes is opening its flagship restaurant in New York City's Times Square at the ground floor of the Moxy Hotel.

"The visibility of the location is truly unbeatable and will create an amazing opportunity to introduce our delicious menu, industry-leading mobile offering and refreshed restaurant design to an unprecedented number of guests and franchise prospects," Mooyah President Tony Darden said in a company press release. 

The new 1,400-square-foot flagship Times Square Mooyah restaurant will feature the brand's revamped interior design, which launched in early 2020 and includes state-of-the-art dining areas and seating arrangements, third-party and to-go pick-up areas, a closed-off kitchen, digital menu boards and a logo refresh. In addition, the Times Square flagship will appeal to the "city that never sleeps" with extended hours of operation, as well as a beer and wine offering. Guests will be encouraged to use the #MOOYAHNYC hashtag on their social media accounts in order to see their posts displayed on a screen in the restaurant. 

"This will undoubtedly be our most innovative restaurant design yet," Darden said . "At all of our locations, Mooyah not only uses its own mobile ordering app but has also focused on third-party delivery and catering through our technology partners. From a catering and delivery standpoint, we expect this location to be a major success. Our high-quality, made-to-order food has always set us apart from the competition, but now by adding this world-class design, our valued Guests will truly be getting the best 'better burger' experience anywhere."

The Times Square opening comes at a critical point for the brand, as the company is ramping up franchising efforts in new and existing markets across the U.S., Darden said. It will open 10 new locations in 2020, all of which will feature the brand's updated design. Restaurants in Hoover, Alabama, Orlando, Florida, and Brentwood, Tennessee were the first to unveil the brand's new design this year. In addition, Mooyah will work with franchise owners to remodel five existing locations in 2020, and all existing locations will have the new design by the end of 2024.

"New York City offers the best brand exposure in the world and we are confident that this midtown location will springboard further franchise development not only across the state, but also nationwide," Darden said. "The franchisees of this Times Square operation, Nick and Art Depole, have very impressive entrepreneurial backgrounds, and we are thrilled to have them as ambassadors for the brand in such a high visibility area."

Nick and Art Depole were raised in Los Angeles, California. After graduating from the University of Southern California, Art started a sneaker resale company in the early 2000s, gathering in-depth experience and business acumen along the way. When the brothers decided to transition out of the retail industry and diversify their portfolio.

"My brother Nick and I have always been huge fans of Mooyah and frequented the restaurant in Irvine, California," Art Depole said in the release. "After doing our research of other burger franchises, we were blown away by MOOYAH's proven business model, strong unit-level economics and streamlined operations. The entire leadership team was incredibly flexible and supported us from day one as we worked out all of the details for this groundbreaking location in New York City."

Mooyah has more than 85 units and is based in Plano, Texas.