Mooyah Burgers, Fries & Shakes is ready to bring burgers to Middleburg Heights, Ohio. The restaurant, opening in late September of 2019, will be located at 19137 East Bagley Road. The Middleburg Heights opening will mark the first Mooyah Burgers, Fries & Shakes restaurant for Franchise Owner Emad Tawfik. As Tawfik spearheads Mooyah Burgers, Fries & Shakes’ growth in Ohio, he cites that the community will love the delicious food and creative restaurant design.
Tawfik moved to the United States in 1999 from Egypt where he spent his career in the banking industry. Once arriving to the United States and settling in Ohio, Tawfik became a general manager with Burger King. By the time his 20-year career with Burger King came to an end, Tawfik was the director of Operation of 40 Burger King locations in Cleveland, Youngstown, and Chicago. After being approached by a member of the Mooyah team about franchising with the brand, Tawfik looked into the opportunity and recognized Mooyah Burgers, Fries and Shakes as an innovative and customizable burger brand that allowed him to become a franchise owner in Ohio.
“When I flew down to Dallas and tried the food, I fell in love with the quality and freshness it offers Guests,” Tawfik says. “With the amount of variety on the menu, including the company’s new lifestyle burgers that give everyone an option no matter what they’re looking for, I thought it would make for a perfect fit in Middleburg Heights.”
Tawfik chose to open his first Mooyah location in Middleburg Heights because of the city’s heavy traffic of students, travelers, sports fans, and medical staff. The restaurant will be situated closely to Cleveland’s Hopkins International Airport, Baldwin Wallace University, the Cleveland Browns training camp, Southwest General Medical Center, and Cuyahoga County Fairground.
“Emad clearly has decades of experience operating successful burger franchises, so we are thrilled that he chose Mooyah as his next venture as he is diversifying his portfolio,” says Mooyah president and COO Tony Darden. “We know that our product quality is second to none, and Emad choosing to join the Mooyah family proves that once you taste Mooyah’s menu, franchisees—and guests—are hooked.”
Mooyah Burgers, Fries and Shakes is planning to expand across the Cleveland area, hoping to add an additional four locations and more than 80 jobs in the market over the next few years.