Haley Madison | Blog Editor | @haleyshantelle
MOOYAH Burgers, Fries & Shakes opened on Monday September 15th in Provo and when I walked in the doors on the following Wednesday just 5 minutes after open, there was already a line. The first MOOYAH in Utah had a successful first week and despite owner Shayne Nielson saying there were a few kinks being worked out, everything seemed to be running smoothly.
It was no small feat getting MOOYAH to Utah County, though. Nielson had been on a hunt for the right restaurant to open for a while, traveling and testing many different restaurant concepts from Mexican to frozen yogurt. Once he found MOOYAH, he had to find the location. With new construction on the corner of Bulldog and University, Nielson knew it was the perfect place. After over two years of waiting, it’s finally open and ready for all the college students that Provo has to offer.
The vibe of MOOYAH reminded me Five Guys mixed with a small town diner. The “moo” theme was used enough to be cute but it wasn’t overbearing. Neilson said, “Your boyfriend and I could have a guys night here, or he could bring you on a date. You could even bring your kids here.” And that’s definitely true. It’s a one-size-fits-all experience, which can be difficult to obtain.
First, you choose your type of burger. Boyfriend and I both chose the standard “MOOYAH” burger but there is also a double, a turkey and even a black bean veggie burger or a hotdog. Next, you choose white or wheat for you bun. The buns are baked fresh in the store but good news, gluten-free friends, you can get an “iceburger” and have your burger wrapped in lettuce. Next you choose your “extras” like cheese and bacon. Then come the veggies. Lettuce, pickles, fried onion strings, grilled onions, and more. The next step is my favorite: the sauce. There are 10 sauces to choose from, which I thought was impressive. One particular sauce stood out and sang to my gluten and dairy hating stomach but flavor loving heart, but we’ll get to that later. You can choose to have your burger “MOOYAH style” which includes: American cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, pickles, grilled onions and MOOYAH sauce. They have regular and sweet potato fries. There is a kid’s menu and a salad menu, as well. For dessert they have 10 flavors of real ice cream shakes.
We ended up with:
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A MOOYAH burger on a white bun with American cheese, applewood bacon, lettuce, grilled onions, pickles and MOOYAH sauce.
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A MOOYAH Iceburger with RedHot Buffalo sauce.
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Small fries
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Small sweet potato fries
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Mint chocolate chip shake
Even though we ordered more food than we usually would, our total came to a surprising $18.83. Boyfriend’s wallet and I were pleased. Usually we spend around $25 for a meal for the two of us. The price is great for what you get.
Boyfriend is a burger lover and a grill connoisseur and his first description was, “a damn good burger.” The MOOYAH seasoning that is used on the burgers and fries is not too much flavor but just enough to make it special. It really does taste like a home grilled burger without the work. The MOOYAH sauce was great and it reminded him of the old Parker’s Drive-In in American Fork. It had just the right amount of grilled onions and the burger itself was cooked perfectly with the slightest hint of pink in the very center. You can tell that the bun is made in house and that the burger was made to order. It wasn’t just laying around waiting for someone to claim it like a 7XL t-shirt in the lost and found.
My Iceburger was almost exactly what I would make at summer barbeques at home. Bun, burger, lettuce and buffalo sauce. I’m simple and predictable and I like it that way. Opting for lettuce instead of bread to please my angsty stomach was actually a really good choice. As a lettuce lover, I thought it was perfect. If you don’t like “rabbit food”, you’d probably want to go with bread. Of the “lettuce buns” that I’ve seen, this was the most substantial. It was more than just one leaf but not too much to drown out the flavor of the burger itself.
On to the fries. The sweet potato were some of the best we’ve had. They weren’t over-seasoned to try to hide the actual flavor of a sweet potato. They let the flavor shine. They were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside without being mushy, which is pretty hard to achieve. The regular fries go through a 6-step preparation for 24 hours before they are fried. Can you taste a difference? I’m not sure. They were good but I don’t know if they were worth the trouble.
Lastly, the shake. Boyfriend said that you could tell that they use real ice cream. The texture was just right. He would definitely go back for it.
Overall, our experience at MOOYAH was a good one and I’ve recommended it to tons of people since. The price is great and the food is even better. It might just be a burger joint but it’s a really good one.
