thePULSEWelcome to Moe’s!
October 2004 – The Hard Rock Café started it all with its combination of Southern country cooking, revved-up amps and relics of rock and roll’s patron saints. The restaurant chain’s huge success launched a revolution in the rock and sports-nostalgia restaurant format.
Moe’s Southwest Grill in Shrewsbury echoes some of this trend, but is very different. Moe’s features plenty of fresh food at fair prices with fast service.
Entering Moe’s, my guest and I found ourselves in a staging area that features the menu in large-scale format on one of the walls. It was pretty basic: four sections (Fajitas, Burritos, Tacos and Quesadillas), each with a few choices that vary the number of ingredients. Meals are available with chicken, beef or tofu. There are also a couple salads and nacho dishes to start off with.
Moe’s is a playful place and we competed to see who could recognize the origin of the names of menu items. The easy ones are taken from Seinfeld episodes (Art Vandalay Burrito). But I had to do a Google search to discover that the Pinky Tuscadero Salad was derived from the name of Fonzie’s girlfriend.
Our choices made, we step into a cafeteria-like assembly line where you announce your decision. As the young woman began to build my John Coctostan Quesadilla ($5), she cried out ‘Chicken or steak?’ Chicken! ‘Pinto or black beans?’ Pinto! She heaped these and mounds of shredded cheese onto a soft tortilla, folded it over on tin foil and transferred it to the grill behind her. My guest went through the same process with his Homewrecker Burrito ($6) and we spec’d out a Billy Barrou Nacho ($5.29) for our appetizer.
With the tough choices behind, we moved on to the beverage area. Moe’s offers soft drinks, bottled beers, wine and ‘Moe-ritas,’ which are, essentially, margarita-inspired slush-puppies with a kick — albeit slight. I chose a lime Moe-rita and my guest grabbed a bottle of Corona beer. By the time we paid the bill, ($25 total), our meals were ready. We carried them on trays up a few steps and into the dining area.
I selected a table under the protective gaze of ‘the King of Rock.’ Elvis was joined gallery-style by portraits of John Lennon, Janis Joplin, Frank Sinatra and other mega-stars. The high-ceilinged, fieldstone-floored room had an open airy feel and was very clean.
Our large basket of white, black and cherry red nacho chips was laden with salsa, sliced black olives, jalapeños and black beans. Added to that was a layer of molten cheese and cubes of tender seasoned steak.
Moving on to my quesadilla, I plowed through more of those chips and broke off the first wedge. It was loaded with tasty melted cheese, beans and chunks of tender chicken. My guest, peeling the tin foil from his burrito, exclaimed ‘Must be five pounds!’ I looked up to see him proudly display a soft tortilla shell the size of a duffel bag that was packed with rice, beans, chicken, shredded cheese and lettuce.
The portions at Moe’s were large, but quality hadn’t been sacrificed. Vegetable ingredients were crunchy-fresh, the salsa zesty and sauces spicy. When we were finished, we gathered our debris back on the trays and cleared the table. We left snacking on buttery soft, chocolate chip cookies — three for a buck!
Moe’s Southwestern Grill is in the same price range as nearby fast food emporia — but assuredly a cut or two above any of them.
