Moe’s Southwest Grill – Portage
Parenthood comes with celebrations that would seem odd to non parents. Lots of celebrations for things that we all wish we got prizes and stickers for. Right now, we’re going through the potty celebration with L. A couple weeks ago, she told J she wanted to wear undies, so we put her in them and hoped for the best. We made a chart where she got a sticker for every time she successfully made it to the potty with a goal at the end of cake and balloons.
She made the end of the chart over the weekend and L told her if she had no accidents over three days, we’d get a cake and balloons for her.
When L got home from work on Monday, we lived up to our promise. We took a trip to Party City in Portage to get L some “Frozen” balloons.
On the way, we needed to get lunch. We were all hungry and since it was L’s special day, we went to her favorite restaurants.
Somehow, Moe’s Southwest Grill became L’s favorite place for lunch. When the first area store opened up on Stadium Drive near our house, it quickly became a go-to for a quick lunch. We all enjoyed the food and L loves it when the employees yell out “Welcome to Moe’s” when anyone walks through the door.
Not long after the Stadium Drive Moe’s opened, a second location opened on Westnedge in Portage. The store took over the big glass building in front of Toys R Us that most recently housed a Happy’s Pizza.
The space has really been opened up since it was converted to a Moe’s. If you’ve been to a Moe’s before, the layout won’t be much of a surprise.
The order process is typical to the newer fast casual concept. You start with a basic menu item then add on the toppings of your choice. All three of us have typical orders at Moe’s and we didn’t stray from them on this visit either.
Almost every time we’ve eaten at Moe’s, I’ve ordered the Funkmeister Tacos with grass fed Steak. I go for the crispy tacos and top them with lettuce, cheese, and pico de gallo. There are a lot of options out there anymore for tacos and they all offer something different, but I really like Moe’s. The taco shells are crunchy and they sort of fall apart. For some reason, i also really like the contrast between the cold pico and the warm steak. It’s not something I typically like with food, but there can be a craving for this combo from time to time.
J ordered the Band Camp Burrito Bowl. The vegetarian burrito bowl option comes with beans, rice, cheese, pico and guacamole. J also added on lettuce, cucumbers, and sour cream. She chose the spicy guac which was a new choice this time and it will probably be the last. She said it was really spicy. As she does most times, she ate about half of the bowl for lunch and took the rest home for a later meal. That’s actually one of the big reasons she likes eating at Moe’s.
For L we always order the Mini Masterpiece meal. The meal is a small cheese quesadilla, cookie, and a kid sized drink. L loves the quesadilla. Every time we drive by Moe’s….and she knows the sign, she will ask for one. While J or I get drinks, we usually unwrap her foil packet and get her started. She typically has half done before either of us even take a bite of our meals.
No trip to Moe’s is complete without an order of queso. All of the meals come with chips and there is a salsa bar that is included as well, but you really need to order the queso. We typically get a cup and share it among the three of us. The chips are similar to the taco shells in that they are really light and airy yet still pretty crunchy and fall apart when you take a bite. The queso is cheesy. That’s all it has to be. There’s a little spice to it, but it’s really just cheesy goodness that we all love.
The bill for our three meals was just over $26 and once again, we all left happy. I know I shouldn’t like chains this much, but they’re just a part of life. L likes it and as far as fast casual Mexican-American food, Moe’s is probably our favorite.

Funkmeister Taco

Band Camp Burrito Bowl

Mini Masterpiece

Chips and Queso
I went to Moe’s in Florida recently and absolutely loved it. We don’t get the options in the UK like you do here – we end up having to pay 90p for a small, very small, salsa. You rock up at Moe’s and it’s unlimited and serve yourself. I went for the topped nachos and it was comfortably twice as large as anything back home. Two thumbs up!
I had never been to Moe’s until one moved in down the street. So happy they did.