The facility complete with Southwest art work, bankett seating, enlarged complimentary salsa bar and a full dessert and fresh brewed coffee center has been met with “howl’n good” reviews from guests.

Gary Occhiogrosso, President of Desert Moon Holdings Corp, the Franchisor said “We have two additional restaurants scheduled to open in New Jersey in 2005.

We see the Mid-Atlantic market as well as the entire East Coast to be our primary focus. Our competitors have a small presence here and we believe we can capture a number of key sites to be a dominant Fresh Mexican concept in the region.”

Hardik Patel, one of the franchisees in this three partner group agrees with Occhiogrosso about Desert Moon's potential and marks it as the reason he inked a deal for several stores to be opened in central New Jersey.

 "Fresh Mexican is the last growth explosion," said Patel. "On the East Coast the market is still wide open," he added. "I knew I wanted to be in this segment." Patel, who also owns a Quiznos, said the emergence of traditional dine-in Mexican restaurants on the East Coast suggests there is a want for similar fast-casual concepts. At the same time, he believes a fast-casual restaurant like Desert Moon offers an advantage over larger dine-in restaurants because it combines high quality food with speed, value and convenience.

"In these times, people want to save without sacrificing their dining-out experience," Patel said. "If you are a family with two kids and you go out to a full service restaurant, you are going to spend $70 or higher."

The typical item on Desert Moon's menu costs only about $6.” Patel continues “The folks at Desert Moon are driven and committed to my success.” Mr. Patel, who has plans to open two to three more Desert Moons, said “the best strategy for success is to beat everyone else to the punch, the way to grab market share on the East Coast is to outdo the competition by grabbing up key locations."

Additional Desert Moon restaurants are scheduled to open in White Plains New York, Princeton and Secaucus, New Jersey, Tyson’s Corner, Virginia, as
well as the Boston, Chicago and Detroit metro areas.

About Desert Moon Fresh Mexican Grille

Desert Moon Holdings Corp. currently operates and franchises 17 Desert Moon Fresh Mexican Grille locations in six states. Serving only the highest quality, skillfully prepared food, their restaurants define a new higher standard for fast-casual, fresh Mexican cuisine.