Moxies opened its first DC location recently. I’m surprised Steve hasn’t written about it here. We tried a few dishes including Ribeye, Mahi Mahi, key lime pie, a stacked tuna sushi app, and potstickers. Plus, cocktails. Botton line, the food was ok but pricey. The cocktails and the stacked sushi apps (and the broccoli rabe that came with one dish) were my favorites. I could see myself siting at the bar with drinks and an app more than going there for dinner.
Huh. I know it’s based in Canada. Here are the DC prices (in American dollars) – do they track with your pricing? Also, how are they with dietary restrictions? (They messed up badly with me).
I don’t currently go out of my way to eat at Moxies in Canada. If I have had any cocktails at Moxies, it would have been 25 years ago. 25 years ago, I used to order the Alberta Beef Dip (French Dip sandwich ) at a local Moxies in Calgary.
I have some cousins in Alberta that like chain restaurants. The rotation when I visit them includes Earl’s, Moxies, Joey, and Cactus Club.
The kitchen staff are going to be the same level as your average kitchen staff working at Denny’s or Applebee’s. I wouldn’t trust Moxies or any other chain resto kitchen at that price point with anything serious like Celiac or peanut allergies.
When I open up the link you shared it goes to my local Moxies with local pricing. Pricing does vary a bit depending on cost of living and the region.
The French Onion Soup at my local Moxies is $12 CAD ($8.77 USD today ) which is a low price for French Onion Soup in Canada. Most French Onion Soups in Toronto currently run $16 CAD ($11.70 USD) to $22 CAD ($16 USD).
For full disclosure, our meal at Moxie’s was comped.
It’s not the kind of menu I normally find appealing. They have a little bit of everything: Thai, Chinese, Mexican, Sushi plus many others. They have enough burgers, sandwiches, etc so that you can eat downtown in a ‘nice’ place without having to refinance.
But it can also get very expensive if that’s the route you want to go.
Since we weren’t paying, we ordered some things I would normally avoid. We started off with a sushi tower and potstickers. Both involved sticky sauces. I don’t need my sushi sweetened, so that was unwelcome. The potstickers themselves were dead boring, but the glaze they rested on was surprisingly good.
The blackened mahi mahi came as a really big log of fish, rolled in spices, resting atop a huge mound of mashed potato with a variety of bonus sauces and ingredients. An enormous amount of food. Also an enormous amount of dry fish.
The rib eye at, at $67. was a mis-steak. It was thinner than I expected, a fairly weak char, and not all that juicy. This was a healthy-tasting ribeye. I have a new-found appreciation for how I cook steaks.
The single best thing about the meal was the broccolini that came with the steak. Great texture that I could not replicate home. The chef deserves some kudos for that.
For me, the cocktails were the strongest items there (you had a mocktail, but I tried a few cocktails). I did like the sushi item…which had a sauce like some sushi rolls. But yeah, I knew I liked the meal more than you did. and yes, it’s pricey for what it is.
Yeah, a different int’l touch for each dish is a bit odd. I also had no idea a “pornstar martini” cocktail is a thing and the waitress seemed embarrassed to have to say it aloud.
A couple of the other chains I mentioned, Earl’s and Joey, as well as Milestones, have a similar menu, similar concept and similar price point. These chains originated out west in BC or Alberta. They tend to be the chains in affluent suburbs, affluent malls, and the relatively affordable option in financial districts. The suburbs with a lot of sprawl often only have chains, and often don’t have any midrange or upscale independently- run restaurants.
In London, Ontario, with a population of close to 500, 000, we have lost all our independently run steakhouses, so the options for steak beyond a steak frites at a Bistro, would be Moxies, Earl’s, The Keg or Milestones , or maybe a lower rent chain such as Montana’s.
The Something For Everyone formula works for the main demographic that gives Moxies and Earl’s business.
Right now, in London, Ontario, the main Moxies is located in an old Bank of Montreal building downtown. There is one small bistro across the street serving excellent food. There are only around a dozen upscale independently run restaurants left in London, and I mostly dine at 2 of them. I would bet the average repeat Moxies customer in LdnOnt has not been to most of those 12 upscale independent restaurants in town.
Most Canadian Hungry Onions don’t go out of their way to eat at these Chains or talk about it.
Moxie’s avocado spring rolls are pretty close to The Cheesecake Factory’s spring rolls. That was the last thing I ordered at a Moxies, at the Yorkdale Mall location around
The steaks are the same price as the steaks at Earl’s, the Keg ( a national chain steakhouse in Canada). I order take-out prime rib or steak from the Keg 4 or 5 times a year. The steak dinner I order costs $62 CAD.
What I find interesting about these chains is that they are really popular at the Mall.
Line -ups with the same pagers that are used at Maccheroni Grill , Cheesecake Factory, or equivalent in the US burbs.
People are dressed in their regular mall attire, and they are often paying more for a steak at the Keg than they would be paying for a steak frites at a nicer Bistro downtown that has better service.
I know it more as a vodka martini with passionfruit puree and vanilla sugar and the champagne/prosecco is served aside (but not to pour it into the martini)
That’s not a martini anymore, by any stretch of the imagination.
And yes, I am aware that the imagination of bartenders the world over has been stretched as to call pretty much any drink served up in a martini glass a ‘martini.’
If only their imagination and creativeness allowed for better drink names while they’re at it.
We were comped because it’s a new venture. It is yet to be seen if Moxie’s has a market in DC. The tourist/visitor trade is always hungry for MOR food with plenty of burger/nachos options.
I saw them deliver an enormous nacho platter to three young-ish business types who loooked like they were not from DC.
Not sure if they have expanded to the States yet.
