Moe’s Southwest Grill just Dethroned Chipotle as the most Popular Mexican Chain

By: Crescencia CeCe Faz

Cronkite Special to AZLatinos.com

The Valley of the Sun can look forward to seeing the return of Moe’s Southwest Grill by the end of 2016 as more locations of the previously-closed restaurant are being added here in Arizona. The Atlanta-based Mexican food chain signed a deal that will add new locations to Phoenix and Tucson, as well as other cities in Texas such as Houston and San Antonio.

Moe’s restaurant has had several locations across Phoenix and Glendale that were previously open, but have since then been closed. The new locations will add to the 600 other stores that are already open and located in 37 other states.

Restaurant Business Magazine named Moe’s Southwest Grill the top Mexican food chain in 2015; and this year, the annual survey Harris Poll recently named them the most popular brand selling Mexican-inspired food, beating out Chipotle.

The win for Moe’s was a great one considering they have approximately 650 restaurants, while Chipotle has more than 1,900 locations. Moe’s first-ever win for “Brand of the Year” title was won for fast and casual Mexican restaurants.

The restaurant is proud to be able to open new store locations for Arizona, considering that the Tex-Mex food chain has recently noticed an increase in popularity for Southwest and Mexican food concepts across the Southern regions of the United States. It is known that the areas surrounding the Southern regions have incredibly diverse demographics that are open to new flavors, so Moe’s is hoping to fit right in and succeed in their new locations across this area.

The first ever Moe’s Southwest Grill was founded in December of 2000 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Moe’s is owned by Focus Brands, Inc. – which also owns some of the other popular brands we see here in Arizona like, Cinnabon, McAlister’s Deli and Seattle’s Best Coffee.