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 fictitious business name. Registering the fictitious name with ...

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 many retail markets, dining markets, and service categories in many pa ...

operating in eight

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, as well as the U.S. states of

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, and

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

Overview

Moxies 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, Moxies has expanded to the United States with locations in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, Plano,

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 the 2020 census, it had a population of 31,265. History ...

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

and

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

. 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. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of ''earl'' never developed; instead, ''countess'' is used. The titl ...

and Cactus Club Cafe. 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 locations' signage) is an American table service diner-style restaurant chain. It operates over 1,400 Restaurant, restaurants in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and several other internationa ...

restaurant franchises in Canada.

History

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

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

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 US, 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 a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, 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

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

. 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 ...

. Their second location in Florida opened in Fort Lauderdale in March 2023. They have also announced new locations in Scottsdale, and

Criticism

In April 2014, the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian Public broadcasting, public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its E ...

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. List of countries by minimum wage, Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation b ...

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