Moe’s Southwest Grill ready for Riverhead grand opening Thursday

Moe’s Southwest Grill will open its doors in Riverhead Thursday morning at 11.

The newest Moe’s is located at 1081 Old Country Road, in the shopping plaza on the traffic circle where Dunkin Donuts is located. It occupies a storefront previously occupied by several other restaurants, most recently the Ground Round.

Moe’s is a franchise operation owned by the Atlanta-based FOCUS Brands, the franchisor and operator of more than 4,300 Carvel Ice Cream, Cinnabon Bakery and other food establishments.

The restaurant describes itself as “a fun and engaging fast-casual restaurant franchise serving a wide variety of fresh, made-to-order Southwest fare in a welcoming environment that rocks.”

It serves burritos, tacos, quesadillas, nachos, salads, stacks and burrito bowls, and boasts fresh, natural ingredients, vegetarian and low-calorie offerings and free chips and salsa with every order. It also has a kids’ menu.

“Our food is freshly prepared in our restaurants daily. From no MSG to the lack of hormones added, steroids or preservatives, we’re always focused on the best possible option,” according to Moe’s website.

Moe’s website has a nutrition calculator that allows users to build a meal with the variety of ingredients offered by Moe’s and see the specific nutrition information for each cooked-to-order menu item.

It offers organic tofu and serves cheese, sour cream that’s free of animal rennet and more than 20 “gluten-friendly” ingredients. (Moe’s serves flour products, so some cross-contamination will occur, the company website notes.)

The restaurant will also feature a Coca-Cola “Freestyle” touch-screen soda fountain which allows consumers to select from more than 100 regular and low-calorie beverage brands.

On Friday, Moe’s will continue to celebrate its grand opening a fundraiser for the Riverhead Blue Waves boys basketball booster club — 50 percent of all sales will benefit the booster club, the company said in a press release.

Moe’s in Riverhead will be open Sunday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Kids Eat Free Every Tuesday night from 5 p.m. to close.