Thursday, April 9, 2009

Mooyah!

As an former San Diegan, I miss In-N-Out Burger. *sigh*

Here in Texas, I've tried Sonic and Steak 'n Shake, which are probably fine establishments in their own right (or not), but nothing has come close to In-N-Out to me. Especially on a low carb diet, (or any kind of diet, for that matter), the breaded and fried fare at Sonic or the larger-than-life menu illustrations of mega-deluxe milkshakes at Steak 'n Shake are just about deal-breakers that make those difficult places to dine wisely.

This week I tried something that almost --- but not quite --- comes close. Mooyah is a small local chain that seems directly modeled after In-N-Out. Same concept of a small menu of burgers, fries, shakes, and soft drinks; same emphasis on fresh beef and hand cut fries; even the same red and white color scheme.

On the plus side, Mooyah offers a bigger list of condiments to add for free to customize your sandwich. They offer a choice of American, cheddar, or swiss cheese, and also have whole wheat buns for the asking. The atmosphere when we were there seemed calmer and friendlier than In-N-Out, and the service was speedy.

What I went for was the very aptly-named Iceburger, which is the burger of your choice nicely done up in a generous wrapping of cool crisp iceburg lettuce leaves instead of a bun. In-N-Out offers this under the prosaic label of "Protein Style" on their 'secret' menu, but I think Mooyah may do a better job with the lettuce wrapper, and the name is more clever. (In my opinion, this may be the world's only legitimate use for iceburg lettuce.)

On the negative side, Mooyah costs more than I remember paying at In-N-Out. The thing that really aggravated me, though, is that they do not list or publish any nutrition info that I could find. They do not make it easy to know exactly how many calories, carbs, fat, sodium, sugar, points, or anything people on various diets or with certain health issues might want or need to track. That seems pretty backwards to me.

Plus, well, it's just not In-N-Out.

Nice enough, though --- I'll be back.

6 comments:

Justin Wallraven said...

OK, I won't be able to sleep until you tell me where this Mooyah place is located.

I love, love, LOVE In-N-Out Burger. Every time we go visit my brother in law in San Francisco, I make my wife go there at least 3 times!

Becky said...

Well, you need your rest, Justin, so check this out:

http://www.mooyah.com/locations/

We went to the one near you, in Plano on Park near Plano Parkway.

There is even one in my little town now, too.

Becky said...

I share your sentiments on In-N-Out. Maybe they put crack in them. Or sugar. Almost the same thing to me.

No, I take it back. About the cocaine, at least. The owners are Christian. Next time you're ever at In-N-Out, look on the underside of the cup. They have Bible verses on them.

Vickie said...

I love In-N-Out too and there is one right around the corner from my house....but...we also just got our very first Sonic in San Diego County...right here in Santee!!

Unknown said...

the coppell location has nutrition guides

Becky said...

Vickie, we have Sonics all over the place here. It only seems fair, since you have a Sonic in San Diego County now, that we get an In-N-Out here, in reciprocation.

I do like the diet cherry limeade at Sonic, but their menu is mostly too junk-foody for me to feel good about eating.

Leslie - Thanks for the tip about nutrition guides at Coppell. I'll have to get over there and pick one up.