As Gotham City’s famous vigilante heads back to the screen this week, Triangle area Moe’s Southwest Grill is having some fun and hosting a black carpet event.

The local Moe’s locations have been giving away freebees to customers, ranging from sides of queso to tickets to the premiere of Christopher Nolan’s film in the IMAX Theater at Marbles in Raleigh this week.

President of the Moe’s Southwest Grill Triangle Co-op Jennifer Wade said the idea for the fun event came from public relations firm French, West and Vaughn.

The firm’s chairman and CEO, Rick French, gave life to the idea, hoping to get the community involved. It worked when Moe’s first tried out the idea with “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1” in 2010.

“We saw such a great success with it,” Wade said.

When French suggested Moe’s jump on the Batman bandwagon, everyone got excited.

“We’re very fortunate to be able to parallel to something like (Batman),” Wade said.

“You have to think outside of the box.”

Already, local Moe’s locations have seen an increase in traffic. Garner Moe’s General Manager Andreas Stasinopoulous said customers are getting into the idea of the giveaways, especially the tickets to see the film.

“They love it,” he said. “We’ve had a great response from Garner residents.”

Stasinopoulous even had a customer come in recently wearing a Batman mask.

Like the Harry Potter event, Moe’s locations will hold a costume contest Monday, July 16 from 6 to 8 p.m. While the Moe’s employees expect to see many children dressed up as their favorite superheroes, people of all ages are welcome to participate.

Winners will take home four tickets to the Legendary Premiere on Friday evening.

“I think Batman is multigenerational,” Stasinopoulous said.

Wade’s daughters can’t win the contest because they are a part of the Moe’s family, but she said they are excited to dress up in their best superhero costumes.

“It’s a fun event for families,” she said.

And that’s something Moe’s employees pride themselves on – giving customers an experience they won’t get at other restaurants.

“This is a big differentiator,” Wade said.

Moe’s franchisees from Georgia, Florida and Tennessee also have reached out to Wade in hopes of using the idea as well.

Wade said the ultimate goal for Moe’s is to make each customer’s visit as enjoyable as possible. And the Moe’s family wants to use the black carpet event as a way to say thank you to its customers.

For more information about Moe’s Legendary Premiere, head to your local Moe’s location. And don’t forget your mask.