MooSa's Press Release

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) – Employers are on the hunt for summer employees, but you might be surprised to hear lots of students just aren’t applying for them.

MooSa’s officially opened Friday. They’ve been getting lots of teens who are interested in working for the new business along Milwaukee’s lakefront.

“I’m shocked we’re getting applications every day, I have a listing on Facebook. I think the kids want to be on the lake. It’s a beautiful view. Every day you come to work and you’re on the beach,” Nas Musa said.

But, that’s not the case for lots of other employers. A 2018 Pew Research report found only 35 percent of teens from 16-19 years old had a paid position over the summer. That’s compared to 51 percent in 2000.

Milwaukee County is seeing the issue first hand as pools have reduced hours this summer and one pool won’t be opening for the season because they don’t have enough lifeguards. The Milwaukee County Parks Director said ideally they’d have 300, but they only have 131 this summer.

As for MooSa’s, they’re just looking for positive employees who will brighten their customer’s days.

“If you’ve got a good attitude, we can work on everything else. Attitude and reliability is definitely a big thing for us,” Musa said.

MooSa's is proud to serve the best burger and custard to Racine, Waukesha and Milwaukee counties.

MILWAUKEE (ONMILWAUKEE.COM)

MooSa's, the brand new burger and custard stand at 2272 N. Lincoln Memorial Dr., will softly open its doors for the first time on Friday, June 14. The stand, which was operated by The Bartolotta Restaurants as Northpoint Custard for nearly a decade, was turned over to the Musa family, owners of Casablanca locations on Brady Street and in Brookfield, for the 2019 season.

The menu is still (somewhat) under wraps, but it will include an assortment of burgers, fries, fried cheese curds and wings along with frozen custard.

Among the offerings, the MooSa Burger will be the stand's signature. The slightly oversized burger is made with custom blended beef from Pritzlaff Meats and comes on a custom Sciortino's roll topped with mozzarella, American cheese, tomatoes, raw onions, pickles, ketchup, mustard and MooSa sauce ($6.75).

Moosa's operator, Nas Musa, says he's had a great time with the planning process for the new venue, the name of which he says took inspiration from the exaggerated pronunciation of his name, which children often used to taunt him in elementary school.

"They'd walk around saying 'MooooooSa' to me," he says with a chuckle. At that time, of course, he had no idea that the name would be a more than appropriate moniker for the "restaurant painted like a cow" on Milwaukee's Lakefront.

"We're excited to open," he says. "I'm enjoying this process so much ... from putting together the logo and creating the brand to designing the menu. Casablanca was founded by my father, but this was fun because we got to build it from the ground up."

Musa says he owes a debt of gratitude to the late Joe Bartolotta, who took the time to walk Musa and his crew around the custard stand.

"He really prepared us for what to expect. He advised us against getting too creative with the menu, and he shared tips about hiring and scheduling employees, especially on rainy days. He also warned us that the custard machines were going to run 24/7."

"It was clear how much the place had meant to him," Musa continued. "Before he left, I remember him looking around the property, and I remember him saying: ''I built this ... It's an emotional day for me.'"

"We're going to do that legacy justice," Musa says.

MooSa's will be open Monday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Tags: moosa's, nas musa, casablanca, moosa burger, burger, cheeseburger, cheese curds, french fries, frozen custard, wings

MILWAUKEE (ONMILWAUKEE.COM) MooSa's, the new Lakefront burger and custard stand, softly opens today (read more here).

The stand, which was operated by The Bartolotta Restaurants as Northpoint Custard for nearly a decade, was turned over to the Musa family, owners of Casablanca locations on Brady Street and in Brookfield, for the 2019 season. So it'll be warming up the grills and cooling down the custard just in time for the weekend.

It's not my usual habit to review a burger from a newly opened restaurant. After all, it seems fair to allow kitchens to work out the kinks, perfect the recipes and adjust operations based on the volume of customers it experiences over the first month or so. But when I was offered the opportunity to try a MooSa burger before MooSa's actually opened, I decided to make an exception.

Despite the early review, I didn't give the burger any passes. I pulled it apart and tasted each component just as I would any other burger. And I applied the same rubric and point system.

I'll be forthright: my first impressions were very good. In fact, if I'd tasted it without knowing that Moosa's was new, I probably wouldn't have guessed. That said, every restaurant has its hiccups and learning curves in the first weeks (and even months); so your burger experience might vary, especially on a busy summer night. If that is the case, be kind and give them the benefit of the doubt. After all, no great burger stand was built in a day.

The MooSa Burger is made with custom blended beef from Pritzlaff Meats and comes on a custom Sciortino's roll topped with mozzarella, American cheese, tomatoes, raw onions, pickles, ketchup, mustard and MooSa sauce ($6.75).

Like most fast food burgers, the MooSa comes wrapped in paper. And yet, it unpacks looking pretty fantastic. The bun is soft and brown with just a hint of Sciortino's signature crust, there's a glimpse of a ruby red tomato, crisp pickles and the dual-tones of the mozzarella and American cheeses melting nicely over the burger's crisp edges.

This custom made bun is one of the best I've seen from Sciortino's. It's substantial, with an ever-so-slightly crisp top. But its interior is soft and slightly sweet, striking me as almost a hybrid between brioche and a yeasty bakery bun. Inside, the cut sides were nicely toasted, and – despite its heft – there was more than enough going on with the burger that the bun didn't overwhelm.

The burger has quite a bit going for it. The meat is nicely seasoned and pleasantly beefy. It's also just a touch greasy (but not too much), which is pretty much what you want in a fast food style burger. But what really wins the day for this burger is its ultra-crispy edges, which offer a pleasantly fatty salty crunch to every exterior bite.

The toppings are fresh and the flavors are balanced. The slices of tomato were ruby red with a decent amount of flavor. The onion was applied judiciously -- just enough to offer some flavor, but not so much that they overwhelmed. The same went for the cheese, which was beautifully melted. The combination of mozzarella and American offers all the umami expected of a great burger with a bit more texture than what you get on an American-only burger; I liked that quite a bit. Meanwhile, the MooSa sauce was tangy and pretty tasty from what I could tell; in fact, I plan to forego the ketchup and mustard on my next burger just so that I can get a better taste of it.

This is a pretty darned good $6.75 burger that comes with a lovely lakefront view. There's very little to argue with here. And even though the French fries are a la carte, they're served in a generous quantity.

I think it's the perfect time to grab a burger by the Lake, don't you?

MooSa's is open seasonally. Hours are Monday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

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MILWAUKEE (VISITMILWAUKEE.ORG) Inspired by good old fashioned custard stands, MooSa's is located right on the shore of Lake Michigan, just off the sands of Bradford Beach. Grab a burger, frozen custard, wings, corn dogs, and more. This lakefront stand is open seasonally.

best burger- Racine- Waukesha

MILWAUKEE (MILWAUKEEJOURNALSENTINEL) The business tapped to fill the vacant Northpoint Custard stand at the lakefront will be called MooSa's, selling burgers, frozen custard and wings. The name of the custard stand is a play on the name of the owner of the business: Al Musa. Musa also operates the Middle Eastern restaurant Casablanca on Brady Street and in Brookfield. Once known as the Northpoint snack bar at 2272 N. Lincoln Memorial Drive, the stand was operated by Bartolotta Restaurants as Northpoint Custard from 2009 to 2018. The restaurant group disclosed Monday that it wouldn't operate the lakefront stand this year and instead would take over concessions at the McKinley Marina roundhouse, at 1750 N. Lincoln Memorial Drive.

Both of those lakefront buildings on public land are owned by Milwaukee County. The Milwaukee County Parks Department intends to award contracts to Musa and the Bartolotta group for concessions at those locations; the agreements require County Board approval.

Al Musa said MooSa's will be similar to Northpoint Custard — family friendly, he said.

Besides burgers, frozen custard and lightly fried chicken wings, the stand will have items such as hot dogs, corn dogs, french fries, shakes, sundaes and the vegan Impossible-brand burger. 

"We have quite a bit of vegan clientele that we don’t want to leave out," Musa said.

Musa said he hopes the stand would open for the season by June 15, if not sooner. 

"We're going to try to keep it open as long as possible," he said, into October or November, if the weather permits. MooSa's would be open daily, barring inclement weather, likely from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Although the Holstein-like black spots previously painted on the white stand match the MooSa's logo of a cow in a chef's toque, Musa said he hopes to find an artist who would cover the building in a mural of his or her choice. Interested artists can message Musa on the Casablanca on Brady Facebook page. Also planned at MooSa's: activities such as musical performances and group painting sessions.

Best burger- Racine- Waukesha