By CHRSTINE BOATWRIGHT / Staff Writer

NORTH SHELBY – Shelby County residents can look forward to a new type of burger-and-fries restaurant coming to the county this spring.

Denney Barrow and his two sons, Josh and Jordan, all Shelby County residents, will open a Mooyah franchise on U.S. 280 by March or April 2012, Barrow said. Most of Mooyah’s 30 locations are in Texas, and the Barrows plan to bring 10 to 12 restaurants to Shelby, Jefferson, Madison, Montgomery and Tuscaloosa counties.

“Mooyah’s mission statement is to deliver the best burger and fry experience ever and have fun doing it,” Barrow said. “It is a fast, casual dining restaurant, which is different from your typical fast food restaurants.”

Mooyah restaurants offer high-quality food, such as 100-percent ice cream milkshakes, freshly cut potatoes cooked in trans fat-free oil, hamburger buns that are baked fresh every day in each restaurant and 100-percent, preservative-free American beef that is never frozen.

“(In) your typical fast food restaurant up and down 280, there’s not one that serves a fresh product, they’re all frozen products,” Barrow said. “It comes in a truck, and they open a bag and pour it out.

“Our product is entirely 100-percent fresh, made daily. French fries cut daily, meat is never frozen,” he added. “It’s an entirely different experience. The customer service is completely different. We want to have a very favorable customer experience that’s keyed into the community.”

After 40 years in the construction and land development business, Barrow is making a “180-degree career change,” he said. ” We started looking at franchises and franchising. We came upon this brand in this segment of the industry and never thought we’d be drawn to it, but we all three were.”

After discovering the Mooyah brand, the Barrows began months of investigation and visited the closest Mooyah restaurant in Knoxville, Tenn., before making their commitment at the corporate offices in Dallas, Texas.

“The Mooyah brand has been noted as one of the new leaders in the industry,” he said. “It’s been ranked consistently in publications as one of the top burger chains of the future.”

As to his own future, Barrows said the change between construction and land development to managing a chain of restaurants is “more than a giant step.”

“Everything I know is about construction,” he said. “Where it works together is it is ultimate satisfaction with your customer. That’s part of the brand. It’s all about the guest experience.

“We want that to be the best that anyone could ever have,” he added. “Typically, you don’t receive that from a fast casual dining restaurant.”