This was possibly the first time in years that 1584 小蓝视频-99 had absolutely no lineups on a Tuesday afternoon.
On June 4, the parking lot was unusually sparse, and the landmark sign that usually adorned the side of the highway no longer had the familiar logo Mag鈥檚 99 restaurant logo.
In the building that formerly housed the widely-loved eatery in town, workers were busy making the facility鈥檚 latest reincarnation a reality.
The doors offered some foreshadowing. A patchwork of stickers on the glass showed pictures of the chef鈥檚 dog, Beans, wearing a sombrero. On each of the stickers was the name of the new restaurant that鈥檚 slated to open its doors at this location 鈥� Sunny Chibas.
Mag鈥檚 99 Fried Chicken and Mexican Cantina, formerly at this location, closed last week. Owner Melody Magaton told The Chief at the time that Mag鈥檚 99 will soon be launching聽 a food truck locally and eventually reopening in a new location in Squamish.
The new Sunny Chibas enterprise is being spearheaded by two former Mag鈥檚 employees who鈥檝e joined forces with a prominent local businessman.
Diana Frederickson and Aaron Lawton both had managerial roles in Mag鈥檚, and Lawton was responsible for the recipes that grew on locals鈥� taste buds.
They will be resuming that dynamic at Sunny Chibas, named after Frederickson noted Lawton鈥檚 love of Japan. It鈥檚 also a reference to a famed Japanese actor, and a 1990s hip-hop artist from rap group Camp Lo.
鈥淐ame up with a new name, we鈥檙e going to have a bunch of funky new concepts, and we鈥檙e going to blow the roof off this town,鈥� said Lawton.
鈥淭he main focus is still going to be a Mexican fried chicken joint.鈥�
鈥淲e鈥檙e moving forward,鈥� he added. 鈥淥f course, I鈥檓 a chef, so I鈥檝e got to bring a couple new, exciting things, but, you know, our core menu is still going to have the favourites.鈥�
A spicy chicken recipe will be added, Lawton said, but he declined to reveal any other new menu items.
Joining them is Scott McQuade, who is locally known for his ventures in real estate. He previously owned the Hotel Squamish building in downtown.
In the not-so-distant past, it was discovered that the lease for the Mag鈥檚 building would be up for grabs.
McQuade, recognizing a business opportunity, signed on to become the leaseholder and partnered with Frederickson and Lawton.
鈥淚 know that these guys are proven operators,鈥� McQuade said, when explaining his decision to join with them.
Frederickson said McQuade鈥檚 offer came at the right time, as both she and Lawton were thinking of moving on.
鈥淚t was time for both of us to move on to do our own thing,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e wanted to create our own business that was us. Have the freedom to do what we needed to do for the business.鈥�
She said their new restaurant will also be keeping with the Mag鈥檚 tradition of doing work in the community.
鈥淪unny Chibas is going to continue to do that, we鈥檙e going to continue to do our fundraisers, Community Christmas Care, we鈥檙e going to continue to do the schooling fundraisers,鈥� said Frederickson.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to keep doing everything we鈥檝e been doing in the community. New name, similar flavour.鈥�
A soft launch will take place on July 1.
鈥淲e鈥檙e super excited,鈥� said Lawton. 鈥淭his is a big thing for us.鈥�
