HISTORY:
The Smiling Jack’s Restaurant Group was grown from an idea by two brothers, John & Matt Downes, who felt their work ethic and passion for "doing the right thing" would serve the community better if their two businesses, Restaurateur and Building Contractor, were combined into one core business in order to provide a quality product in a fun, relaxing atmosphere with terrific, consistent service.
The brothers emphasize good food, terrific service, and a warm ambience and refrains from gimmicks and quickly forgotten trends. They believe their restaurants are about the guests. They pride themselves in constantly looking to improve their food and beverage selection and ingredients as they strive for exceptional product development and customer service.
Starting on a shoestring budget, but with a head of steam, they opened Johnny Mac’s Gourmet Pub on May 5th, 2002 in Vista, California. Johnny Mac’s tag line "New Favorites and Old Friends" reflected their belief in providing fresh, quality menu items; thus becoming their guests "new favorite" food item and in turn building a large percentage of repeat guests.
Adapting the menu every six months to appeal to an ever changing business and family community saw an increase in monthly sales for forty-two consecutive months. Johnny Mac’s featured two house craft draft beers, "Highlander Golden Ale and Happy Jack’s Red" and two specialty products, their "Chicken Tortilla Soup" and "Special 5 Sandwich Sauce", both of which were sold in signature bottles to their loyal following. Johnny Mac’s was sold in January of 2006 in order to start the brother’s new venture in Cape Cod, “La Paz Surf Cantina", on June 5th, 2006.
La Paz Surf Cantina was formed to allow the brothers to concentrate on what they deemed their flagship store for future restaurants. The restaurant was designed and built from a former clothing store to what is now La Paz from their expertise in their respective fields and soon became a known commodity in the seasonal resort town of Hyannis, Massachusetts after their first summer in business. Bringing a Southern California Surf theme, Margarita Bar, and eclectic menu to Cape Cod has generated excitement and curiosity on the part of the local community. One of the first restaurants to bring genuine Fish Tacos to the Cape has generated a buzz among their guests as has their Big Fish Burrito with lightly fried fresh fish wrapped in a warm flour tortilla with their special ingredients. La Paz Surf Cantina is a business member of the Surfrider Foundation and offers discounts to card carrying members and helps by donating a percentage of their summer sales in an effort to help clean and maintain our coastlines.
Smiling Jack’s Restaurant Group is soon to open their next concept, Malibu Murphy’s; a cross section of their previous two restaurants featuring a twenty-five seat bar with 30-35 draft beers and a comfortable dining area off the bar with booth seating and four-top tables. The menu will focus on their top selling food items from Johnny Mac’s and La Paz Surf Cantina; simple, efficient, and cost effective items with flavors to match anyone’s taste buds for quality food with a lot of love thrown in. Malibu Murphy’s is poised to open their first store in the spring of 2009 with three more locations to follow within the next five years. Malibu Murphy’s will feature a large draft and craft bottle beer selection and a food menu featuring fine burgers, burritos, and much more in a fast-casual atmosphere with a theme that fosters on an Irish pub and Surf shack. Potential Investors for Malibu Murphy’s may contact us at any time and more information will become available. We promise to provide an exciting, profitable concept to all potential investors, guests, and employees. We love what we do!
