Moes a fresh departure from norm of its peers

Thursday, January 13, 2005

I am a big enough person to admit to a prejudice. I would rather eat at an OK home-owned and operated restaurant than almost any chain-store, franchised, mass-marketed cookie-cutter, McRestaurant.

One thing journalists seem to share with aspiring actors is working in the food-service industry before we make it.

It has been said that if you like hot dogs, never watch them being made. The same could be said of fast food. If you like to eat fast food, dont work for one of its purveyors.

With that in mind, woe be it to Moes Southwest Grill, a chain based in Atlanta, when I darkened their doorstep.

It turns out that the experience was a good one.

They were friendly, clean and well-organized. The restaurant was nice, too.

The layout was very similar to going into a popular submarine sandwich shop, but instead of a lot of bread and a little filling, I got a little bread and a lot of filling.

As you walk in, expect them to shout Welcome to Moes at you.

After that greeting, I took awhile to sort through the menu on the wall and selected the homewrecker burrito.

Moe knows burritos is their motto, after all.

Never having met Moe, Im not sure how comforting that is.

But as I watched the 12-inch tortilla being filled while I walked down the line, I know that the fellow behind the counter knows how to put more into that wrap than Id have ever thought possible.

They bill this particular offering as 20 ounces of Love. I dont know about that, but I can say that what I got was the size of a Fosters beer can and was layered as it should be.

That sounds like a simple thing, layering a burrito. But judging After a time or two of biting into just sour cream in a tortilla, I have become burrito-shy.

At Moes, I got fresh-tasting ingredients in a nicely warmed, soft tortilla.

It was a good meal, a big meal. The price was reasonable.

The tortilla chips were festive and well-salted, though a couple of them would have been better if they had crunched.

The Who is Kaiser Salsa was good, as were the two available taco sauces and the tomatilla sauce.

Fresh is a watchword for the company. They claim to have no freezers, and I can say the taste proves that philosophy is well thought out.

The decor was nice, though it felt somewhat stale in a trendy way. The interesting paintings of dead musicians were a saving grace for the otherwise uninspired, chain-store appearance.

To say that the music, which is played loudly, is eclectic would seem a clich on my part.

But when grunge rock, Frank Sinatra, reggae and the Beatles play in the short time it takes me to eat lunch, I call that eclectic. I also call it enjoyable.

As I said at the start, any restaurant that has tried to replicate itself in over 20 states is going to be hard-pressed to become a favorite of mine.

But when the desire is a good and filling meal quickly, Moes is a good choice. It was also easy to get into and out of and the service was fast.

Overall, I give Moes an endorsement for doing a better job than most of the chain-store restaurants at providing palatable food in a tolerable environment.

Or to put it simply, Ill be back.

 Daily News ·813 College St. ·PO Box 90012 ·Bowling Green, KY ·42102 ·270-781-1700