What Moe's Southwest Grill Actually Stands For
Welcome to Moe's — or rather, welcome to a quick read all about Moe's Southwest Grill and what it stands for. If you've ever been to a Moe's, you've almost certainly heard those words, "Welcome to Moe's," shouted at you at least once before. According to Entrepreneur, employees greet every customer with that refrain each time they come in.
That's just one part of the appeal of Moe's Southwest Grill. As documented by Nation's Restaurant News, the brand is a fast-casual Mexican chain, eclipsed in the United States only by Qdoba and Chipotle. Moe's sells customizable, Southwestern "street food" including burritos, nachos, quesadillas, and more, with a focus on freshness and quality. Between catering, drive-thrus, and franchises, Moe's has long employed a variety of strategies to attract customers, and this seems to have paid off. On average, each site sees over a million dollars in sales. That big business has led to the opening of around 700 locations spread across 40 states, and Moe's has even gone international. Moe's is a name known far and wide.
Musicians, outlaws, and entertainers
Who is Moe, though? Moe isn't a person but rather an acronym. So, the real question is, what does M.O.E. actually stand for? Take it from the horse's mouth, Moe's stands for musicians, outlaws, and entertainers.
The Southwest grill itself states that music helps inspire its audio atmosphere. Entrepreneur notes this influence can also be seen in the business' artwork. The music referenced has typically been made by artists who left the world too soon yet left a lasting legacy regardless. Meanwhile, Moe's outlaw attitude is all part of its desire to be creative, original, and unpretentious in a way that its "corporate" competitors allegedly aren't. The way Moe's focuses on customization and freshness is part of that endeavor. Similarly to both the musicians and the outlaws, the entertainers are muses for Moe's feel-good identity, as well as their cleverly named menus and dishes, like the "Alright Alright Alright" and "The First Rule of Chicken Club." Obviously, although similar to Mexican brands like Qdoba, the Moe's Southwest Grill company seeks to set itself apart.
Challenging Chipotle
At the end of the day, Chipotle is the biggest rival of Moe's Southwest Grill. Lately, Moe's has been going out of its way to overtake its main competitor. Back in 2016, Chipotle closed all its locations to do a brand-wide food safety review after struggling with E. coli. So, Moe's took the opportunity to advertise its ongoing operations. Later on, polls and surveys showed customers turning to Moe's for Mexican food while Chipotle's business slowed down, per Eater. Then, in 2018, Insider reported that Chipotle's rollout of its queso failed to impress folks, which then served to highlight Moe's arguably more beloved queso. By succeeding where Chipotle has failed, Moe's positions itself as the future of Mexican fast-casual.
Moe's does more than just compare itself to Chipotle, however. The chain has expanded its menu to include popular items like tacos, while also utilizing delivery, online ordering, and takeout to boost sales. Additionally, towards the end of the 2010s, the brand reinvented itself, modernizing its design, emphasizing bold flavors, and using the "Untamed Southwest" as its dominant theme (via Nation's Restaurant News). Moe's has also begun prepping more food in view of customers in order to drive home its commitment to freshness. In the early 2020s, it started selling groceries during the coronavirus pandemic, too, remaining relevant even as food service faltered in general.
Moe's may literally stand for musicians, outlaws, and entertainers, but clearly, as a commercial venture, Moe's Southwest Grill stands for a whole lot more.