Moe's American Dream

Moe's has enjoyed lots of traffic from the surrounding community since their recent opening. 
Photo by James Hoyle

The town of Athens, until recently had few places to actually sit down and eat a meal.  Gino’s has been a staple of the town for years, and the Subway and Wingspan offer meals on campus. However, there had not been a local place to  eat for some time that was not affiliated with Concord University. This has now all changed. 

Last week, Moe’s Restaurant and Café opened to the public. It is located by the Sonoco Station and next to the Trading Journal and Deli Mart at 5811 South State Street. For the residents of Athens and for the students of Concord University, it is a new place to eat and to socialize. For the owner, however, it is the culmination of all of his hard work. The Concordian had a chance to talk to Mohammad Seif, known to the public as Moe, the week before his restaurant opened. 

“Moe’s is a dream come true,” Moe said, “It was my dream to start restaurant, and I wanted to call it Moe’s, and that’s how the idea came to me.”

According to him, the actual property itself was not difficult to acquire. Construction began within the building in July and was finished in early October. This was a period of roughly three months. “It was a lot of work,” he said. With the okay from both the health department and the Athens Fire Marshall, they were able to open for business. Moe was adamant that he takes the health and safety of his customers very seriously. 

Moe was very excited to speak of what sort of food that his restaurant will serve. “We will be serving three meals a day, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and we have American, Greek, and Italian food. It’s gonna be pizzas, subs, burgers, paninis, reubens, kind of like a New York-style diner. Whatever you want to eat, you can come here and get it. You won’t get tired of our stuff.” 

Moe clarified that when he says three meals a day, he means three meals. Customers wishing to get breakfast for dinner are out of luck. Moe wishes to not have the flavors from breakfast eggs mix with the flavors of steak and fish at lunch or dinner time. “We start lunch at 11:00 and end it a 3:00. From 3:00 to 10:00, that’s dinner time.” 

Moe wanted to stress that they will also be serving pizza large enough to serve eight people. “It’s 18 inches and nobody carries that size here,” he said, “We want to keep it at a low price. We want to feed the whole family.” 

In addition to all of the food the new eatery has to offer, Moe also said that he has a special discount for all students attending Concord University. “We’re giving a 10% discount to all Concord University students. We’re trying to help them out because we know that most students don’t have that much money to spend, so we want to give them a break, and our menu prices are the best. So you’re gonna save money buying your breakfast or your lunch or your dinner, and you’re getting that 10% discount.” 

When asked if he had anything to say to his potential customers at Concord University, Moe said with a smile, “I will do my best to feed you and to make you feel good and to make you feel happy.” 

Moe’s Restaurant and Café is open Monday through Saturday from 6:00 AM to 10:00 PM and on Sundays from 7:00 AM to 9:00 PM Anyone with questions can call Moe at (304) 384-8247.