Franchising

Mooyah opening at least 15 restaurants in Phoenix

Image courtesy of MOOYAH

March 12, 2021

With a newly remodeled concept and revamped menu, Plano-based Mooyah Burgers, Fries & Shakes is setting up shop in Arizona with plans to open its first Phoenix-area restaurant this year, according to a company press release.

Plans call for 15 to 20 Phoenix-area restaurants over the next decade, and the chain is looking to enter Houston; Las Vegas; Orlando and Tampa, Florida; Nashville, Tennessee; Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina; Atlanta and Richmond, Virginia.

"We are laser-focused on expanding our presence across the country," Mooyah President Tony Darden said in the release. "When looking to expand, at a macro level we look at population growth, the health of the economy, supply chain availability and the state of both the residential and commercial real estate markets. Once through that, we then take a more granular approach in terms of understanding the workforce, density of the population and the number of competitors. Now, we are looking forward to bringing new franchise owners into the MOOYAH family and bringing our one of a kind 'better burger' experience to Phoenix."

In 2019, Mooyah worked with Livit, a Madrid-based global in guest-experience design expert to launch a rebranded restaurant to better serves guests. The company opened its first remodeled restaurant in February 2020, featuring updated dining zones, seating arrangements, purposeful third-party and to-go shelving, a closed kitchen, digital menu boards and a new logo.

"This new design and layout has set Mooyah up for our next phase of growth," Darden said. "This approach allows us to be more accessible to our guests in the manner in which they want to enjoy their dining experience, whether that be through dine-in, pick-up or delivery. We are confident this elevated design positions us extremely well to achieve our short- and long-term franchise development strategies as we partner with existing and new franchise owners. We truly believe the alignment of design and experience with our top-notch food quality gives us a competitive advantage across the industry."

Mooyah has 86 locations.