Moe’s Southwest Grill (Ann Arbor)
857 West Eisenhower ParkwayI think 17 years of writing this blog, you know I’d rather find someplace local when we travel.
The kids don’t always agree with me on that and sometimes, we just have to get them what they will eat.
It seems like every time we go to Ann Arbor, we end up at Moe’s Southwest Grill. It’s not too far from the rink and it’s something the kids have always liked.
We had a pretty decent break in the middle of the day on Thursday and we wanted to get away from the rink for a while. J and L wanted to go to the mall and B wanted to go swimming back at the hotel.
Before that, we needed to grab some food.
Moe’s Southwest Grill is on Eisenhower Parkway at Waymarket Drive on the southwest side of Ann Arbor. The restaurant takes up a corner spot in the very large Colonnade Shopping Center. Parking is a little weird because the shopping plaza is in the shape of a semi circle so the spots closest to Moe’s are actually a little further away but it’s a shopping plaza with a giant surface lot. You’re not gonna end up walking that far.
We ate at Moe’s quite regularly when there was a location on Stadium Drive in Kalamazoo. My daughter loved it because she used to love being the one to yell “Welcome to Moe’s” when someone walked in the door. She would request to go there every time we asked what she wanted for dinner.
Moe’s has changed a bit since that time but it’s still pretty familiar.
This Moe’s is set up with the menu on a wall kind of out of the way when you walk in. There is a space to the right for the line to queue because the counter is pretty close to the door. The menu is at the end of this queue space. There was no line when we walked in so I had to get out of the way of my family and figure out what I wanted. They all already knew what they were going to order.
The order counter is set up just like it’s competitors. You pick your delivery device (taco, burrito, bowl, etc) and then start picking toppings.
We all did pretty much what we always used to do. The kids got quesadillas. I got tacos. J got a bowl. We also added on some queso and drinks. You pay at the end of the line and to be honest, I was shocked this meal cost us almost $70. I didn’t feel like we got that much food but I wasn’t paying attention and didn’t look at the receipt.
We didn’t really have any place to be so we found a booth in the dining room and just ate our meal in the store. There’s not a ton of space to eat in this location but most people DoorDash now anyway so they don’t need a big dining room.
My order was three hard shell steak tacos with lettuce, cheese, and pico. This has always been my order from Moe’s because I actually really like these tacos. I know it’s weird to go hard shell but I’ve found that I really like the taste this way. The freshness of the pico and the crunch of the hard corn tortilla is something that I will only order at Moe’s. The steak is always kind of tough but that’s fine. It’s fast food tacos so I’m not complaining about it. The flavor is good though but as much as I don’t like tomatoes or onions, it’s weird that the fresh pico is what makes these tacos so delicious to me.
J got Bowl filled with rice, beans, cheese, lettuce, corn salsa and queso. This used to be called the Band Camp Burrito bowl but they seem to have gotten rid of those names and just let you choose what you want. J has pretty much always eaten half of this bowl for one meal and saved the rest for later. That’s pretty much what happened this time too but we didn’t take it with us because she knew she wasn’t going to eat it at the hotel.
The kids both got quesadillas. They’re both pretty plain and ordered just straight cheese quesadillas. Again, this has always been their order. L likes the burrito bowls now but she doesn’t eat a lot on competition weekends. I think nerves get to her and she doesn’t want to overdo it.
Something they have no that they didn’t have when we used to go all the time is a slushee machine. Of course, both kids did that instead of getting lemonade’s to drink like they usually do.
All of the meals comes with a lot of tortilla chips. You can even ask for more. J ended up asking for some right before we left to take with us as a snack and they filled up a whole to-go bag for her.
As for dipping, there is a really good salsa bar that I have used on many trips but didn’t this time.
There’s also the queso. This stuff is why we always went to Moe’s so often. It’s a really thick queso that almost turns to glue when it cools. You have to eat this stuff while it’s still warm and liquidy. I know it sounds gross to say it turns to glue when it cools but even then, it’s still pretty tasty. We got the biggest portion size they offer. L and I pretty much ate the whole thing. She dipped her cheese quesadilla in to more cheese and we both went to town with the chips that came with our meals.
Moe’s Southwest Grill has always been a safe choice for a meal for us. We eat at this particular Moe’s almost every time we come to Ann Arbor for a competition. I usually skip out on it and go find something on my own but this time, I decided just to give in. It’s been a while since I’ve had Moe’s and while it’s not always my first choice for food, it’s always a meal I enjoy.
SW Michigan Dining 