Always a Crowd at Moe’s in Massapequa

For anyone who lives near Massapequa on Long Island, there are plenty of options for fast Mexican food; Taco Joe’s and Chipotle Mexican Grill are two of the biggest names in the area. But the most popular Mexican restaurant in Nassau County is a small restaurant hidden in a shopping center.

This is Moe’s Southwest Grill, on Sunrise Highway. The restaurant opened in February 2012, but has since turned into one of the most popular restaurants in the area.

In both 2016 and 2017 surveys conducted by Harris Poll EquiTrend, Moe’s Southwest Grill was named “fast casual Mexican restaurant of the year” due to factors like both the quality and relative affordability of its food. What makes Moe’s popularity especially surprising is the fact that it has far fewer restaurants than its biggest competitor, Chipotle Mexican Grill, which also used to be regularly ranked as the top fast casual Mexican restaurant in the U.S. Chipotle opened it first restaurant in 1993 and now has some 2300 locations in the U.S.; Moe’s was founded in December 2000, and now has some 700 locations.

At the Moe’s in Massapequa, located in the Sunrise Promenade shoppping center, customers have come to always expect a crowd. The counter service gives everyone a chance to choose every ingredient in their food, and also get in and out of the restaurant quickly.

“Even though it’s always crowded, there is never a long wait to get your food,” said Serena McGowan, an employee at Pier 1, which is in the same shopping center. “I come here all the time since I work in the shopping center, and I never have to wait that long to eat. It’s great because I can get a burrito or a quesadilla with whatever I want on it and eat it quickly without spending a lot of money.”

This Moe’s is not as big as some of the other Mexican restaurants in the area. It is, for example, only about half the size of a nearby Taco Joe’s. But for locals and anyone else who has stopped by lately, there aren’t many places that can compete.