Island Grill to Move into Magnus Location
By Maria St. Louis-Sanchez, Greeley Tribune, Colo.
Apr. 18–An island-themed restaurant and bar will move into Greeley’s downtown, taking the location of the Magnus, which closed Friday.
Owners of the Island Grill, a Fort Collins-based restaurant, hope to open in the first few weeks of June at 801 9th St. in downtown Greeley.
“Greeley is a boomtown and I think there are a lot of opportunities there,” said Ken Kuk, who co-owns the restaurant with Hal Walker. This will be their second restaurant.
Kuk and Walker took over the Fort Collins Island Grill about four years ago and have since re-vamped the menu and atmosphere. Specializing in American Baja cuisine, patrons will see a lot of popular dishes re-made with Caribbean flair, such as the popular Mahi Mahi tacos or the Cajun queso dip — a cheese dip featuring Cajun sausage.
Inside, the atmosphere is Caribbean casual with huge fish tanks and murals of seascapes dotting the walls. Employees, including the owners, wear Hawaiian shirts to work.
“If you were to sit in here, you would probably feel you were in the islands,” Kuk said.
The expansion into Greeley isn’t the only expansion in the works for Kuk and Walker. They also plan to add 2,000 square feet to their Fort Collins restaurant to make room for live music and attract a larger after-dinner crowd. They also hope to attract that crowd in Greeley.
“I think that’s part of our success is making it a fun place out of the atmosphere,” Kuk said. “The people who come in here enjoy these things.”
The island-themed bar will be a stark contrast to the former Magnus, which specialized in martinis and higher-end cuisine.
Kuk said it was a concern to move into a place that was vacated by another restaurant. Magnus owners attributed its closing to a year of sagging sales topped with higher employee costs because of the increased minimum wage.
“Obviously there’s a concern,” he said. “But after talking to all of the great people in Greeley, we realize that something needs to happen down there. We might be part of that and help in the rejuvenation of the downtown Greeley area and give people something to get excited about, and something to do after 10 p.m.”
To go
Island Grill
Opening in the beginning of June at 801 9th St. in downtown Greeley
Specializes in American Baja Cuisine with items such as Mahi Mahi tacos, jambalaya and steak and shrimp kabobs.
For more information and a menu, go to: www.islandgrillrestaurant.com or check out the restaurant’s Fort Collins location at 2601 S. Lemay St.
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Copyright (c) 2007, Greeley Tribune, Colo.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
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