Boasting a breathtaking interior that accentuates the overall dining experience, Moo Moo restaurant is every aesthete’s dream destination.
True to its name, Moo Moo is a modern looking restaurant that has a strong cow theme infused with eye catching bright colours. Aiming to ‘bridge the meat lovers gap’ in more ways than one, Moo Moo continues to break the mould of what a traditional stake house should look like.
Their quirky personality is reflected in everything from the overtly tongue-in-cheek humour to the various touches like MooGazine menus, cows Mooing in the ‘Outhouse’ toilets & grass on the tables. The stores are modern & trendy without being presumptuous or too serious.
Expanding their horizons, Moo Moo recently opened doors in Mall of Africa – the busiest shopping district in the country. We chat to the restaurant’s manager, Jimmy Eracleous about the expand, and more.
What makes the Moo Moo brand proudly South African?
South Africans are meat eaters and our menu suits the South African palette. We carefully source the best quality beef from local farmers and our wine list showcases some of the best wines from our country. Foreign visitors often comment on how great the quality of our product is. They are particularly amused by how affordable the menu is and often remark that you need to be extremely well off to enjoy a “meat feast” like this back home.
How does Moo Moo aim to fill the ‘meat-lovers gap’?
We would like to bring the best quality product at a reasonable and affordable price. We feel we fill the gap between the cheaper franchised options, bringing a more sophisticated taste to a mature environment without having the stiffness and costly price points of a high-end steakhouse.
As a manager, how do you motivate and inspire your staff and those you work with?
I like to participate with the staff, climb into the trenches with them and lead them as a team player. I also like to mentor and coach staff and I am inspired when I see staff develop and grow within the business as well as outside the business.
What type of manager do you believe you are?
I like to consider myself a participating and coaching type of manager. I understand that people all have different skills and talents and my job is to bring out the best in them by guiding them to align their abilities with the goal of the business.
How does Moo Moo differentiate themselves from other steakhouses?
We do not like to be taken too seriously. We like to have fun and this can be seen in the quirkiness of the menu and the décor. We are NOT a stiff NY-style steakhouse with white tablecloths, nor are we the type of place that focuses on the young family. We are not the latest hotspot attracting social media enthusiasts but, what we are: is a relaxed affordable trendy eatery that is frequented by regular meat lovers. We aim to satisfy the pocket and tastebuds of our clients by allowing them to tailor-make their meals by choosing the sides to accompany their dishes. We focus on wine and therefore every single bottle of wine on the menu is also offered by the glass – a first in SA
Being a steakhouse, where does Moo Moo source their meat from?
HQ carefully sources their meat from local farmers. The central butchery matures and portions the meat for the stores. The quality standard of the product as well as sustainable farming practices of our suppliers is of utmost importance.
Do all Moo Moo branches boast their flavour and flair in terms of ambience and environment?
All Moo Moo branches portray the same culture and warm hospitality. People will enjoy the vibe and relaxed atmosphere no matter whether they dining in Jozi, P-Town or even as far as Secunda!
What makes the Menlyn Branch so popular?
The location of the store in the biggest mall in Africa is a winner. Our restaurant overlooks an open-air urban park. There are plenty of trees, fresh air and a child-friendly water fountain where kids can play. While visiting the store you forget that you are in a mall and feel like you are sitting in a park surrounded by eateries. The sheer size of the mall and the track record that it holds attracts guests from far and Moo Moo is the perfect lunch stop to enjoy a world-class steak while sitting in your shorts and “plakkies” (a Pretoria word for flip flops).
What makes the Mall of Africa Moo Moo so unique and in demand?
Waterfall City is growing at a rapid rate, and this seems to be the perfect halfway point between Jozi and Pretoria. Big Corporates have moved into the precinct and residential housing estates have sprung up in the area. Combining all these factors and Mall of Africa has resulted in a high-energy, bustling centre where people can work, play and entertain. Moo Moo Mall of Africa has become the preferred home for business lunches during the day and dining for residents at night. There is a diversity of cultures in the mall and this personifies the “Rainbow Nation” we call our home.
What would you say in your opinion is your speciality?
I always like to ask my patrons if it is their first visit. And if it is, I like to recommend, any of our tender steaks which we mature ourselves, a burger with a delicious 200g homemade patty, alternatively a Chicken Espetada which is made up of soft juicy chicken thighs skewered and dripping in garlic butter or lastly our legendary sticky pork ribs which customers will travel for miles to come and enjoy. From the above selection, there is something for everyone, and I am convinced that when they leave the store they will be satisfied and well impressed. If a new customer eats one of these dishes I know the probability of them returning is high – and this is how we convert first-time visitors into regulars!
Your steakhouses boast fun and quirky decor – what was the inspiration behind this?
We like to eat and we like to have fun. We do NOT take ourselves too seriously and we would like to bring this theme to our customers.
What is a must-try at Moo Moo’s?
A Cow Chow! It is like a bunny chow, also a proudly South African dish but with a slight Moo Moo twist. We take a crispy Portuguese bun and hollow it out creating a little bowl which is then filled with either peri-peri beef strips, chicken strips or even chicken livers. Alternatively, you can have creamy garlic snails or a Philly steak which is a combo of onions cheese and tender beef.
How does Moo Moo’s stay on top of trends in an ever-growing competitive market?
Moo Moo HQ is made up of a team of foodies who have accumulated more than 50 years of experience in the hospitality industry and who like to travel, socialise and dine out. Amongst the crowd, you will find an IT specialist, a horse-rider with a keen interest in photography, a former trendy nightclub owner and DJ, as well as a successful catering expert…there may be some personalities that I may have missed here. This array of characters brings many different aspects of the contemporary arena into the Moo Moo brand.
Tell us about the Décor.
Bright Red features in Moo Moo’s décor “pop” as you look at the store from the outside. Big red woven lamp pendants hang from the high ceilings in the middle of the store, with a massive wooden cladded staircase as a backdrop, that seems to be floating to a second level. Upside-down steel milk pales with red inners provide warm light to the front of the store. Wooden tables are decorated with a centrepiece of wheatgrass. This denotes the pastures where the cows forage and in turn brought indoors to where the customers will be graze. Interesting seating including, large leather couches, as well as tan hide upholstered chairs, intermingled with wooden seats, which are padded with black and white designs can be found throughout the dining area. A few wooden butcher blocks with bulky cleavers lodged in each of them acting as cocktail tables are scattered around the store.
A “wall of wine” with some great vintages is displayed on a huge face-bricked wall allowing customers to get out of their seats and browse for some hidden treasures that are not on the menu. On the other end, there is a wall of quirky sayings including phrases like “ Being a vegetarian is a huge missed steak”.
The final finish is a bright red continuous screeded floor that leads you to an old-fashioned outhouse with farm-style toilets together with a huge steel trough forming a communal basin. To confirm that you are out in the countryside you can look out a wooden framed window to find cows foraging in the fields and the sounds of “Moo-ing” can be heard in the distance.
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