It”™s safe to say that Anthony Grippo is very busy. But in this case, very busy is a very good thing.
On April 18, the Harrison resident opened Mooyah Burgers, Fries & Shakes, a fast-casual, “better burger” chain, at 1943 Palmer Ave. in Larchmont.
Though the restaurant has quieted somewhat from “the craziness” of its opening week, Grippo still manages to field questions from employees, help a customer find her credit card, flip burgers, fill out a merchandise order and even answer a call from his son, all in the space of an hour-long interview.
Maybe his ability to juggle numerous tasks simultaneously stems from the fact that he”™s been down this road before.
The Larchmont location is the second Grippo has launched in Westchester ”“ his first at 1882 Pleasantville Road in Briarcliff Manor opened in November, marking Mooyah”™s first entry into the Empire State.
The new restaurants join the ranks of the growing number of fast-casual burger joints in the area, with Smashburger, Elevation Burger and Five Guys all opening new Westchester locations in the past five years.
Founded in Plano, Texas in 2007, Mooyah now boasts more than 90 locations worldwide, offering never-frozen beef, turkey and veggie burgers, along with hot dogs, salads, hand-cut french fries, ice cream shakes and in-house baked buns.
According to Mooyah”™s website, “ideal partners” should have $500,000 net worth and $200,000 minimum liquidity.
Grippo, who signed a six-unit deal with the brand and plans to open one location each year, has his sights set on expansions in both Westchester and Fairfield counties.
But his route to franchise ownership has been anything but traditional.
After graduating with a degree in accounting from Villanova in 1995, Grippo spent the bulk of his career in the finance industry, working with both J.P. Morgan and Lehman Brothers.
Though Grippo eventually got “a little bored” with the field, it was a much broader event that led to his ultimate exodus from the industry.
“The big catalyst for me was in 2008,” he said.
At the time of the financial collapse, Grippo was working as chief administrative officer of the global futures business at Lehman Brothers, the firm that would eventually go through a highly-publicized bankruptcy.
“That was kind of a big wake-up call for me,” he said. “Something could just get ripped out from under you, and you have no control over it.
“I just didn”™t want to be in that position again.”
It was that lack of control that prompted Grippo to think seriously about making a change.
But the timing for making a huge career move was not quite right. A global financial crisis was happening before his eyes, and his wife was pregnant with their second child.
So he moved on to Citigroup, where he worked in a sales position for five years, and in 2013 decided it was time to make the change.
“I got to the point where I got older, I wanted control over myself and my career,” he said. “I just wanted to be responsible for that and not be at the hands of some other decision-maker who”™s going to manage my career and have a hand in what I”™m doing.”
Though owning his own restaurant always held some level of appeal, the franchise concept was ideal for Grippo, who had no background in the restaurant industry.
Grippo discovered Mooyah while researching other fast-casual chains and liked the lively, kid-friendly atmosphere and fresh food the restaurants offered.
“I was like, ”˜Wow, something like this in Westchester would be great,”™” he recalled.
As for where Grippo will open his next Mooyah restaurant, he”™s still weighing his options.
“It all depends,” he said. “I would love to do something in Fairfield if I could, but there”™s plenty of spots in Westchester, as well.”
Mooya sites in Connecticut include West Hartford, Newington and on the University of Connecticut campus in Mansfield.
Grippo noted that the UConn location is “a homerun,” adding that college students eat up Mooyah”™s offerings.
But since UConn is much larger than some of the universities in Westchester ”“ Grippo has pondered an Iona College location in New Rochelle ”“ that success may not necessarily translate.
And, ultimately, the target market of Mooyah is families, making Larchmont a “perfect demographic” for the chain.
“There are tons of families, tons of kids (in Larchmont),” he said. “It”™s a walking village.”
For his first two locations in Briarcliff and Larchmont, Grippo said he wanted to open restaurants where “no one else really was.”
“In Briarcliff Manor, there wasn”™t really a fast-casual place in that vicinity,” he said, adding that having both the Briarcliff and Ossining markets was a plus.
Similarly, while the Larchmont area has a number of restaurants in nearby Mamaroneck, he felt a downtown Larchmont location could provide a closer fast-casual burger option.
Expanding to downtown Bronxville or Scarsdale would cater to a similar demographic, but he”™s also leaning toward a different model altogether: a high-traffic area.
“Something like High Ridge Road in Stamford or Central Avenue in Scarsdale,” he said.
But with more traffic comes more competition.
“It”™s difficult to narrow it down,” he said.
Wherever Grippo decides to go next, he finds comfort in the fact that he now has greater power over his own future.
“I love the idea of kind of controlling my own destiny, and if it”™s successful, it”™s on me,” he said. “If it fails, it”™s on me.”
