Out With The Moes, In With The What?

Upon the closing of Radford University student’s beloved Moe’s Southwest Grill on Tyler Avenue, the hot topic on campus is what will be taking over the fast-casual restaurant’s building location. 

The Tyler Avenue Moe’s location opened in August of 2018 and was open for six years until their recent permanent closure announcement, likely due to the consistent financial issues of the franchise owner over the last two to three years. Students have thrown out ideas both realistic and fantastical as they theorize and daydream about the next business to take over the vacant building located next to Subway and D.P. Dough.  

The most frequent restaurant manifestations among the whispers in the halls so far have been Tropical Smoothie Cafe, Wingstop, Cava and Raising Cane’s. None of these chains have Radford locations, proving to be a good reason they are highly desired across campus. Chipotle is another suggestion, which would maintain the balance of dining options available on Tyler Avenue by giving the location a new Mexican fast-casual restaurant. The probability of a Chipotle takeover is slim though, given that there is a nearby Chipotle location just across the bridge in Fairlawn. 

Students also have more general ideas, types of cuisine they would like to see more of in the area that may take advantage of this new location opening. Some suggestions have been ramen and other Japanese cuisine, Chinese cuisine, a new cafe or a local breakfast-centered business. There is also a distinct lack of Indian and Southeast Asian cuisine in Radford that has a chance at being remedied. 

Based on the current dining options available on Tyler Avenue, it seems a bit more likely that a chain restaurant will take over the now vacant building, but students will continue to dream about their ideal outcome until an official announcement is made.