Muscle Maker Grill.

2012-09-20 0 notes

Wayne Patch - Dining Out Review

In the fast-food nation we live in today, rarely do we see restaurants that serve food with the customer’s health in mind. Enter Muscle Maker Grill, a refreshing establishment focused on low-carbohydrate, high protein, nutritious food. And the food tastes pretty good too. Muscle Maker Grill (MMG) started from a single restaurant in Colonia in 1995. The Wayne location, located in the Wedgewood Plaza on Hamburg turnpike, opened in 2010. The inside of Muscle Maker is clean and inviting. The style is a modern take on an old-school diner, with an open kitchen and bar seating. Decked out in red, there’s a dining room featuring flat-screen televisions that seats 30 people. The menu at Muscle Maker looks like any typical deep-fried dive: chicken nuggets, taco salads, a dish called the Godfather.

At first glance, these meals might appear unhealthy. But the chicken nuggets are not fried, the taco salad is made with lean turkey, and the Godfather is a low carbohydrate delight topped with roasted red peppers and portabella mushrooms. There are appetizers, salads, wraps, burgers, pastas, entrees and protein shakes to wash it all down. We tried the Signature wrap, which featured grilled chicken breast, turkey bacon, reduced fat cheddar cheese and a signature sauce. Muscle Maker offers an impressive choice of eight side dishes, which range from brown rice to a Caesar salad. We tried the Western potatoes. When I imagine eating healthy, naturally I envision smaller portions. Again, I was humbled, as the wrap was quite large, fitting nicely in my hand. What was equally impressive was how well the wrap held its contents, a failing of so many of its counterparts. The chicken was tasty. The turkey bacon mimicked its pork cousin very well and provided a delicious crunch.

2012-09-19 0 notes

The Sentinel - Business Influx

March 2011- The Sentinel - Business Influx (Muscle Maker Grill Excerpt)

Muscle Maker Grill is planning to open a 2,795-square-foot healthful-food casual restaurant at the Brunswick Shopping Center, next to L.A. Fitness, in May.

Muscle Maker Grill features a freshly prepared, health-conscious menu featuring chicken, seafood, pasta, wraps, entrée salads and smoothies, as well as a variety of protein supplements and protein snacks. Options include Mexican wraps, Italian pasta and American hamburgers.

“If you read the national headlines, even Michelle Obama is saying kids are obese,” said Bob Morgan, chief operating officer for Muscle Maker Grill. “Everybody is getting back to healthy eating and healthy dining. Even if you work out, you have to eat, and there are not always nutritious options. If you want to take care of your body, eat healthy and work out, we can put it together in one package.”

Ron Arora, a North Brunswick resident, decided to open a franchise for those exact reasons. He said that not many local establishments serve healthful food, but Muscle Maker Grill uses whole wheat breads, pastas and rice, low-fat cheese and sour cream and fat-free sauces. “Muscle Maker Grill, not being a higherend restaurant, caters to middle class people but with high-end food,” he said. “I feel this is the right way to do it in this economy, because people should know what they’re eating and what they’re paying for.”

He also said that since he lives locally, he wants to pay taxes to support his own town, which all residents should do.

Source:

2 notes

Feeding Snooki and The Situation

Restaurant Hospitality - Jan 2011

If nothing else, MTV’s “Jersey Shore” had made us aware how many 20-somethings organize their lives around working out,

tanning and partying. But New Jersey-based Muscle Maker Grill figured out long ago that these self-described guidos and

guidettes eat right to look good. Finally, a restaurant that knows how to make a buck off a healthful menu.

Restaurant owners have for decades complained loudly that healthful items on menus don’t pay off. Customers who say they

want to see these types of items seldom order them when given the chance. Even diet-conscious patrons are more into

splurging than self-denial when eating in a restaurant.

But 31-unit Muscle Maker Grill doesn’t target the traditional healthful dining crowd. Its menu isn’t designed for people who are

worried about their weight, their cholesterol count or their blood pressure, although it works for them, too. Instead, Muscle

Maker caters to those who eat healthfully for more narcissistic reasons.

Members of its target demographic are young, they’re in shape and they want to look good when they hit the nightclub or the

beach. One episode of “Jersey Shore” even documented cast member Snooki Polizzi (who, FYI, is neither Italian nor from

New Jersey) and her boyfriend dining at Muscle Maker Grill.So it’s all about nutrition at this chain. Not only can customers choose from a wide variety of healthful menu offerings drawn from multiple cuisines (Asian, American, Cajun, Mexican and Southwestern) with price points at $9 or less. They can also load up on the wide range of protein-packed supplements available at each unit’s extensive retail area. The retail component is a check-building option of epic proportions.

The chain’s tagline is “great food with your health in mind,” and it isn’t kidding. Everything on the 52-item menu is fresh, lowcalorie

and low fat. All pasta is 100 percent whole wheat. The low-carb lineup features five entrees served over broccoli, each

costing $8.95. The Godfather offering, for example, includes a grilled chicken breast, Portobello mushrooms, roasted red

peppers, low-fat mozzarella and light balsamic vinaigrette arranged over the broccoli base. A seven-option smoothie lineup

harkens back to the chain’s roots as a smoothie stand. There’s a separate 18-item vegetarian menu, too.

Muscle Makers Grill positions itself as the perfect stop for a post-workout meal for anyone whose lifestyle embraces working

out and looking good. Which is why many Muscle Maker Grill units are located in, next to or very near gyms, fitness centers or

other workout facilities. Most units are in the chain’s home state of New Jersey, but it has stores operating in New York and

Florida and is looking to franchise new ones in Pennsylvania, California and other states. A proposed unit in Miami’s South

Beach, where tanning, going to the gym and keeping in club-going trim are the national pastime, should be a money machine.

If you run one of the many restaurants that struggle to attract customers who will order healthful food, Muscle Maker Grill may

be an object lesson for you. Granted, not every restaurant has this problem. Darden’s slowly expanding Seasons 52 concept is

one exception, but it’s aimed at the boomer-age crowd. Muscle Maker Grill’s genius is designing a menu for customers for

whom healthful dining is a lifestyle choice, not necessarily a nutritional one. Keep this and other underserved demographics in

mind the next time you write a menu or strategize a new concept.

Source:

0 notes

Griffin Food Service Report January 2011

Source: griffinreport.com

2012-02-16 3 notes

#MuscleMakerGrill BBQ Wrap - Grilled chicken breast, #reduced-fat cheddar and #fat-free hickory sauce, 64 grams of protein. Great Food with your Health in Mind. #MuscleMakerGrill

2012-02-03 0 notes

The Muscle Maker Grill girls were on hand to giveaway over 1,000 sample wraps at the Mack-Cali Employee day event.

2012-02-02 1 note

Olivia from Jerseylicious visits Muscle Maker Grill.

2012-01-27 0 notes

Muscle Make Grill TV profiles our Wall location and owner Anthony gets interviewed by MMG founder Rod Silva.

2012-01-26 0 notes

Muscle Maker Grill founder Rod Silva talks about thriving in a recession, the healthy food of MMG and what the Muscle Maker Nation really is - on the Fox Business Channel.

2011-01-01 1 note

Jersey Shore Cast Loves Muscle Maker Grill

If nothing else, MTV’s “Jersey Shore” had made us aware how many 20-somethings organize their lives around working out,

tanning and partying. But New Jersey-based Muscle Maker Grill figured out long ago that these self-described guidos and

guidettes eat right to look good. Finally, a restaurant that knows how to make a buck off a healthful menu.

Restaurant owners have for decades complained loudly that healthful items on menus don’t pay off. Customers who say they

want to see these types of items seldom order them when given the chance. Even diet-conscious patrons are more into

splurging than self-denial when eating in a restaurant.

But 31-unit Muscle Maker Grill doesn’t target the traditional healthful dining crowd. Its menu isn’t designed for people who are

worried about their weight, their cholesterol count or their blood pressure, although it works for them, too. Instead, Muscle

Maker caters to those who eat healthfully for more narcissistic reasons.

Members of its target demographic are young, they’re in shape and they want to look good when they hit the nightclub or the

beach. One episode of “Jersey Shore” even documented cast member Snooki Polizzi (who, FYI, is neither Italian nor from

New Jersey) and her boyfriend dining at Muscle Maker Grill.

So it’s all about nutrition at this chain. Not only can customers choose from a wide variety of healthful menu offerings drawn

from multiple cuisines (Asian, American, Cajun, Mexican and Southwestern) with price points at $9 or less. They can also load

up on the wide range of protein-packed supplements available at each unit’s extensive retail area. The retail component is a

check-building option of epic proportions.