by Joyce Lancaster

Food and food service have been in Steve Mourad’s family for three generations, and though he tried to go his own way for a while, Steve eventually decided the family food dynasty was also his destiny.

“My father, Ed, and his brothers, Bob and Ray, started a Big Boy restaurant forty years ago. They now own five. Also, my paternal grandfather owned a grocery in Gross Pointe and my maternal grandfather owns a wholesale food warehouse in Youngstown, Ohio,” he explains. Steve worked in one of the Big Boy restaurants when he was fourteen and attended school in Howell. He had a happy childhood, and spent his free time playing basketball, football and tennis. Because of his social nature, he was chosen by his teachers to be part of a “positive peer influence” program at his school. He always loved architecture and he received a degree in architecture from Arizona State University, and returned to Brighton to work for an architectural firm as a development manager. “Unfortunately, when the economy took a downturn, I was one of the first to be let go,” he says. After six months of being unemployed, his cousin Tom approached him about opening an Ann Arbor Moe’s Southwest Grill. It opened on September 30, 2004 and was the first Moe’s in Michigan. After it’s success, they opened a second location in Allen Park in 2006. “Tom ran Allen Park and I managed Ann Arbor. The hardest thing I have ever had to deal with was when Tom died unexpectedly of a heart attack at age 39 while on his treadmill. I was suddenly running two stores by myself and dealing with the emotional loss of my cousin and business partner.”

The business is thriving now. “We have 12 employees in Ann Arbor. Most of them have been here three or four years. They are all good, honest, and hardworking people,” he says. Friendly too. It is Moe’s company policy to have every employee greet each customer with “Welcome to Moe’s!” every time they walk in the door. Steve also has joint ownership of a Sonic drive-in in Clinton Township with his father, his Uncle Bob, and his cousin Bob. And his architectural training didn’t go to waste. “I helped lay out the Sonic and the Moe’s in Allen Park when they were being built,” he explains.

Although he works 60-70 hours a week rotating among his stores, Steve, who is single, still finds time to get together with his many friends to enjoy golf, sporting events and Piston’s games. “I still hang out with kids that I knew from elementary school in Redford and Grand Rapids,” he says with a smile. He also has a golden retriever named Sadie that he shares custody of with his only sibling Andrea, who happens to live next door to him in Ann Arbor.

“I love Ann Arbor because of the university, the nightlife and the people here. Moe’s is a good fit for this town. People here value their time and appreciate good food. Your order is prepared right in front of you and everything is served fast, fresh and as healthy as you would like it to be. All of our salsa and guacamole is handmade here in the restaurant, and because the food is fresh, we don’t even have a freezer.” Stop in and try the best-selling “Homewrecker” fully loaded 20 ounce burrito, or to see all of the current specials.

Moe’s Southwest Grill
Steve Mourad
857 W. Eisenhower Pkwy.
Ann Arbor, MI
Phone: 734-998-0900
Email: moesbriarwood@sbcglobal.net