A N.C.-based restaurant group is opening more Moe’s Southwest Grill locations along the Grand Strand and also plans to bring the first Smithfield’s Chicken and Bar-B-Q to the area.

Moe’s opened last month in North Myrtle Beach at 4517 U.S. 17 North, and another location plans to open by the end of the year in the SayeBrook Town Center, home to Target off S.C. 544 and U.S. 17 Bypass.

That Moe’s location, which will be in a building to be built near Atlanta Bread Co., aims to open at the end of 2013, said Clif Bullard, owner of Bullard Restaurant Group, which has offices in the N.C. cities of Lumberton and Raleigh.

Bullard will operate both of those Moe’s locations. The other Moe’s location in the area, in Conway off U.S. 501, is operated by a different group.

Bullard also is looking for a site for the area’s first Smithfield’s Chicken and Bar-B-Q, a popular restaurant in North Carolina serving fried chicken and Eastern N.C., vinegar-based barbecue. Bullard hasn’t set a timetable for opening that restaurant. Smithfield’s has more than 30 locations in North Carolina, and is awarding franchises for other areas, according to its website.

Myrtle Beach, with the millions of tourists who visit every year, is a perfect spot for these restaurants, said Bullard, who grew up in Lumberton and often spent summers in Myrtle Beach.

“I’m very excited about Myrtle Beach,” he said. “Moe’s will do very well in that type environment.”

Moe’s serves burritos, tacos, nachos and other items and is known for greeting customers as they walk in the door with an enthusiastic “Welcome to Moe’s!”

The new North Myrtle Beach location will have a grand opening party with games and prizes starting at 11 a.m. Thursday. Customizable burritos will be sold for $2 that day; limit one per person.

Moe’s was founded in 2000 in Atlanta, Ga., and now has 480 locations. It briefly had a location on the south Strand, but that restaurant closed several years ago.

Contact DAWN BRYANT at 626-0296 or at dbryant@thesunnews.com or follow her at Twitter.com/TSN_dawnbryant.