Mooyah Burgers, Fries & Shakes, Briarcliff Manor

The collapse of Lehman Brothers was fortuitous in many ways for Anthony Grippo.

It was in 2008 that Grippo, a former vice president of global futures at Lehman, lost his job and began to think about ways he could take control of his future.

“I wanted to do something on my own, and I’ve always loved the franchise model,” he said.

Grippo is the owner of Mooyah Burgers, Fries & Shakes in Briarcliff Manor, a franchise that specializes in fresh beef burgers, hand-cut fries and ice cream shakes.

He acknowledges that he had little restaurant experience before opening last November. Grippo is also the owner of another Mooyah franchise in Larchmont, and hopes to open four more restaurants throughout Westchester and Fairfield counties over the next couple of years.

Before investing in the growing company, Grippo spent time researching various franchises as well as visiting a Mooyah in Connecticut to taste the restaurant’s specialties.

“I tried the food and I also had my family try it, and they loved it,” he said.

What sets Mooyah apart from other burger chains is its focus on freshness and allowing the customer to build his or her own burger, Grippo said. Burger buns are made in-house daily served on potato or multigrain wheat buns.

Another key difference is the variety of the menu. It asks customers to “choose a protein” from a variety of burger choices that range from The Mooyah Burger to The Double Diablo, The Well D’Onion and The Farmer’s Favorite, a burger wrapped in lettuce. Other protein choices include a black bean veggie burger, an all-beef hot dog and an all-natural turkey burger.

There are nine free veggie toppings – lettuce, tomato, pickles, relish, jalapenos, onions, grilled onions, sautéed mushrooms and fried onion strings – and 11 free sauces, including the traditional mustard, mayo, barbeque, spicy ranch and honey mustard.

Each gourmet burger can be customized with five different types of cheese, smoked bacon and a sliced avocado.

The fries, made from Idaho potatoes, are crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. Mooyah offers 10 types of milk shakes, featuring varieties of vanilla, cookie dough, mint chocolate chip, Hershey’s chocolate, strawberry, banana and more.

The Loaded House Salad comes with a range of dressings and the opportunity for customers to add crispy chicken, turkey, beef or veggies to the mix. The children’s menu offers burgers, grilled cheese sandwiches, chicken tenders and hot dogs.

In addition to the delicious food that Grippo and his staff serve, Mooyah is an ideal place to bring the kids. There’s a section of wall devoted to a large “Moodle Doodle” chalkboard, where children can draw to their hearts’ content. The rest of the restaurant’s red, white and black-focused décor blends in well with the large renderings of cows on the upper half and pleasant sayings written on the lower half.

“I really want this to be a very kid-friendly destination,” Grippo said.

Customers can download the Mooyah rewards app for a free burger when purchasing fries and a drink, in addition to earning points every time a purchase is made.

The restaurant works with community groups and other organizations that raise money for various causes, with a percentage of the sales going toward the fundraising initiative.

Mooyah is located at 1882 Pleasantville Rd. in the Chilmark Shopping Center in Briarcliff Manor and is open daily from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. For more information, visit www. Mooyah.com.