Moxie's Restaurants LP (

doing business as A trade name, trading name, or business name, is a pseudonym used by companies that do not operate under their registered company name. The term for this type of alternative name is a "fictitious" business name. Registering the fictitious name w ...

Moxies; formerly Moxie's Classic Grill, then Moxie's Grill & Bar) is a Canadian

restaurant chain A chain store or retail chain is a retail outlet in which several locations share a brand, central management and standardized business practices. They have come to dominate the retail and dining markets and many service categories, in many pa ...

operating in eight

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...

, as well as the U.S. states of

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

and

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

Overview

Moxie's is a premium casual-type restaurant, whose menu focuses on house-made ingredients with a "global inspiration." In Canada, they have locations in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Saskatchewan. Since 2017, Moxie's has expanded to the United States with locations in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, Plano, and

Southlake, Texas Southlake is a city located predominantly in Tarrant County with minor areas extending into Denton County in the U.S. state of Texas. Southlake is a suburb of Dallas/Fort Worth. As of th2019 census estimateit had a population of 32,376. Histo ...

; and

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

. All locations are custom-designed to uniquely reflect the neighbourhood, and be eclectic and distinct. Their direct competition would be other premium casual chains, such as

Earls Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form '' jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particula ...

and

Cactus Club Cafe Cactus Club Cafe is a Canadian-owned chain of premium casual restaurants that originated in North Vancouver, British Columbia. The chain has since expanded to 31 locations throughout Canada, with other locations throughout British Columbia, Al ...

. Moxies' parent company,

Northland Properties Northland Properties Corporation is the parent company of multiple hotel chains, restaurants, sports teams, and Northland Asset Management Company. Northland was founded in 1963 and is owned by the Gaglardi family. Bob Gaglardi is the founder and ...

, also owns Chop Steakhouse & Bar, Shark Club Bar & Grill, Rockford Wok, Bar One Urban Lounge, and

Denny's Denny's (also known as Denny's Diner on some of the locations' signage) is an American table service diner-style restaurant chain. It operates over 1,700 restaurants in many countries. Description Originally opened as a Diner, coffee shop un ...

restaurant franchises in Canada.

History

Moxies originally started in September 1986 as a 96-seat deli in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

called Muncie's. Less than two months later, the name was changed to Moxie's because too many people were mistakenly calling it “Munchie's”. The concept continued to evolve and in 2004 went from a

family restaurant Restaurants fall into several industry classifications, based upon menu style, preparation methods and pricing, as well as the means by which the food is served to the customer. This article mainly describes the situation in the USA, while catego ...

to premium casual, with a menu and restaurant design transformation. In 2007, they earned an unprecedented number of achievement awards across Canada, including: Best All-Around Restaurant and Best Lunch Spot, Best Menu, Best Service, Best Appetizer Menu and Best Bar. In 2017, Moxies expanded beyond Canada and opened their first location in the United States with their

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

, location. Their American restaurants have become some of the most popular restaurants in North America, and they have since opened Texas locations in

, Plano, and Southlake, as well as in

. The Southlake location opened in October 2020 at

Southlake Town Square Southlake Town Square is a shopping precinct located in the city of Southlake, in the U.S. state of Texas. Owned and managed by Kite Realty Group. History The plans to develop open pastures into an upscale downtown for the City of Southlake be ...

. They have also announced new locations in

Fort Lauderdale A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

, Scottsdale, and

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Criticism

In April 2014, the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

did a piece on Moxies having more health violations than any other large restaurant chain in Canada. The CBC also sent a reporter undercover with hidden cameras as a server at a Moxies location in Vancouver. A

CBC Marketplace ''CBC Marketplace'' is a Canadian investigative consumer program which has been broadcast on CBC Television since 1972. The program investigates consumer reports on issues such as product testing, health and safety, fraudulent business practi ...

investigation in February 2018 found that in response to Ontario's

minimum wage A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. Bec ...

increase, Moxies required servers in that province to "tip out" 5.75% of their sales (that is, contribute this share of their tips to a pool for cooks, busboys, and other workers who do not receive tips); it had been 4.75% prior to the change in the minimum wage.

References

Food and drink companies based in Vancouver Restaurant chains in Canada Restaurants established in 1986 Companies based in Calgary {{Canada-restaurant-stub

Overview

History

Criticism

See also

References