Monk Mcqueens closes, to be replaced by Mahony & Sons Irish pub- style eatery
Restaurant on False Creek opened during Expo 86; will undergo major renovations
VANCOUVER — Bob Lindsay considers himself lucky his bank turned him down five years ago when he tried to borrow $ 4.5 million to renovate his celebrated Monk McQueens restaurant on False Creek.
The global financial meltdown in 2008 would have turned that loan into a crippling debt.
“Luckily, our bank said no,” Lindsay said in an interview Friday. “I’d hate to be sitting with a $ 4.5- million debt these last few years.”
Monk McQueens closed its doors last week after a successful 26- year run at Stamps Landing, but the building will get that multi- million- dollar injection this year when Irish pub operators Mahony & Sons upgrade the facility and reopen it this fall as their third Vancouver pub/ restaurant.
Lindsay said he and his business partners — who also own LIFT Bar & Grill at Coal Harbour — considered doing it themselves, but opted to keep ownership of the building and lease it to a new restaurant operator.
He said Monks owed much of its success to its great location, as it was one of just a dozen or so waterfront restaurants in Vancouver.
“But location only goes so far, and restaurants here are spending $ 4 million to $ 6 million on their interiors because you have to keep up with the Joneses,” Lindsay said. “We searched and searched ( for the right tenant) and think it’s a perfect location for the Mahonys.”
Monk McQueens opened during Expo 86, and Lindsay said the new restaurant did “ridiculous” business that year, regularly serving up to 1,200 meals a day.
“We also did a huge wedding business there, hosting 40 weddings a year,” he said. “A lot of people fell in love on our deck and kept coming back for anniversaries.”
Mahony & Sons proprietor
Monks was a great place to go ( to), but it was a little bit of an older facility and we’re going to bring it up to modern standards.
CHRIS MAHONY
MAHONY & SONS PROPRIETOR
Chris Mahony said his familyowned company will “completely overhaul” the 250- seat restaurant that also features a 300- seat patio. Expect floor- toceiling windows and fireplaces among the new features, with construction slated to start in May.
“If this location still wasn’t on people’s radar, we’re going to put it back,” Mahony said. “Monks was a great place to go ( to), but it was a little bit of an older facility and we’re going to bring it up to modern standards.”
He said residential construction in the area, including the Olympic Village, has created new opportunities for local restaurants. He expects the Irish pub concept will attract a wideranging demographic.
The Mahony family opened their first pub at the University of British Columbia in 2006 and their second at the Vancouver Convention Centre in 2011. The family, with 11 children, moved to Vancouver from Australia in the early 1970s, and six family members work in the business.
The pub menu features an image of Mahony’s great- great great-grandfather Barney, who was kicked out of Ireland and sent to Australia in 1832 for pickpocketing.
That sketchy background doesn’t affect Lindsay’s respect for the family’s business acumen.
“I really like what they’ve done at the Convention Centre,” he said. “They’re excited, they’re up and coming, and they’re great operators who treat the restaurant business like a business. That’s the only way to survive.”