Boom of businesses tantalizes taste buds

The Evans area keeps adding new places to eat to its menu.

On Thursday, franchise holder Steven Taylor opened Moe's Southwest Grill in Mullins Crossing shopping center on Washington Road. Taylor, who also owns Moe's restaurants in Aiken and Columbia, S.C., said he plans to open as many as three other Moe's in the Augusta area.

"Looking at the demographics of the Evans area, that is the Moe's customer," he said. He called the Mullins Crossing a "super" shopping center and "an eating mecca."

"Moe's will just add to that," he said.

The Atlanta-based chain of 800 restaurants features a variety of burritos, tacos, quesadillas, salads and fajitas, with some made to order.

On Monday, Starbucks Coffee also added its third Evans shop with the opening of a licensed store in the Kroger supermarket on Washington Road. The location is similar to the Starbucks inside the Target store in Mullins Crossing.

Alan Richardson, Starbucks' marketing manager for the Southeast, stated in an e-mail that, though it is not a company-owned store, it will still offer the same line of beverages as other Starbucks establishments.

Asked why the company has chosen to open three stores so close to one another, Richardson cited the "great potential" for growth in the Evans area.

"Starbucks will continue with our expansion plans and open stores where our customers want and expect us to be," he said.

In other business developments, Evans resident Lillian Bible recently moved her women's clothing store, Simply Me, from downtown Augusta to Oakley Plaza shopping center on Belair Road. Bible said she made the move to be closer to her primary customer base.

"It seems that downtown is more suited to the partygoers and this side of town is more family-oriented," she said. Simply Me features styles for all ages and sizes.

"It's for boutique shopping without the boutique pricing," she said.

On Aug. 7, Columbia County residents Leon Marriott and Rob Cheng opened MAC Electronics Inc., which sells and installs high-end custom audio and visual systems for homes and vehicles.

Marriott said he and Cheng each have more than 20 years' experience designing, servicing and installing audio/video equipment and decided to go into business for themselves.

"Anything mobile electronics we can do: video, navigation, security, remote start and audio ... even back- up sensors for your vehicle," Marriott said.

MAC Electronics, which is in Liberty Square shopping center across Washington Road from the Evans Wal-Mart, has a full installation bay in the back of the store for vehicles, Marriott said.

Also open in Liberty Square are Tip Toe Nails, Shaffer Computer Services and American Dream Machines, a custom motorcycle dealership.

Other businesses opening soon in the Evans area include Barbaritos Southwestern Grille and Cantina in the Liberty Square shopping center, Ruby Tuesday in Mullins Crossing and Bean Baskette Coffee near Omni Fitness on Evans to Locks Road.