By Anna Skinner
After studying business and the restaurant industry, Chris Frank was searching for a restaurant franchise idea when he stumbled across Mooyah Burgers, Fries & Shakes. Astounded that Mooyah could easily compete with idolized burger joints such as In-N-Out, Frank found his place.
Next week, the storefront will open in Noblesville at 17147 Mercantile Blvd., the first in the state, with the next nearest location three hours away in Illinois.
“It’s not just a good business opportunity, but a good fit for me, because when I came across Mooyah, I was really attracted to them,” Frank said. “I looked into more of what they were about and was really attracted to the culture of the company. It’s the opposite of arrogant and humble even though there’re so many burgers and hot dogs out there. Mooyah is known for their good quality of their food, and they’re proud of that, but they’re not out to say they’re better than everyone else.”
Frank said that Mooyah truly focuses on giving the guest a great experience, and that’s a big part of what drew him into the franchise.
Frank’s wife, Anne, grew up in Indy, and when he learned that Mooyah wanted their franchise owners to be strongly connected with the local community, he knew he found his niche.
“Being really involved in the local community is important to me whether or not I was involved with this business or another franchise, because that’s my style,” he said.
Frank recently returned from Dallas, where he attended two weeks of training to learn the ins and outs of being a Mooyah franchise owner. He’s still looking for employees, too.
Another big plus for Mooyah is the understanding of the stresses children can cause on parents. That’s why they’ve implemented a “moodle doodle” in all of their restaurants – a wall-sized chalkboard where kids can draw and write while parents order and enjoy their meals.
Frank said the Mooyah food was truly outstanding with their baked buns, fresh meat, fries from potatoes and tasty milkshakes. There are also tons of different combinations that people can create for their meals, including black bean and turkey burgers.
Frank and the City of Noblesville aren’t the only ones excited about Mooyah coming soon.
Ardag Tachian, director of development for the Mooyah Corporation, said that corporate is thrilled with the first store coming to Indiana.
“We’re very excited about that opening,” Tachian said. “Noblesville is a very family-focused, family-centric community, and that’s reflective of our brand as well, so we feel as though we’ve selected the right community to have our first restaurant.”
There are 83 Mooyah chains worldwide, 74 in the U.S. and nine international, including restaurants in countries like Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Kuwait and Canada.
“I just thought it was outstanding,” Frank said. “It has a fun atmosphere and not a complicated menu, but you can customize it a million different ways.”
Meet Chris Frank
Family: Wife, Anna; sons Cole, Max and Zeke.
Education: MBA with a major focus in marketing and the restaurant industry, graduated from Indiana University in 2011.
Hobbies: Basketball, gardening, caring for the house’s fruit trees (apple, pear and cherry), seeing things grow and eating from the yard, doing anything with sons and playing piano.
Favorite Mooyah meal: The classic Mooyah style cheeseburger – they have their own sauce which is a bit like thousand island, regular fresh cut French fries and any milkshake.
