“Some of the best opportunities come at the most inopportune times,” stated Mario Marovic, who along with business partner Andrew Gabriel recently purchased beloved Muldoon’s Irish Pub in Newport Center.
That makes a dozen Orange County restaurants and bars owned by Marovic and Gabriel under their Lounge Group moniker.
Their culinary empire includes Helmsman Ale House, Malarky’s, Stag Bar, Dory Deli, Blackie’s by the Sea, and Muldoon’s, all in Newport Beach. Also under their umbrella: Wild Goose Tavern, Playa Mesa, and The Country Club, all on 17th Street in Costa Mesa, The District Lounge in Old Towne Orange, and Matador Cantina and 2J’s Lounge in Fullerton.
They plan to open more in 2021, and their enterprising spirit during one of the most challenging periods in the industry’s history has earned them the Business Journal’s nod as Restaurateurs of the Year.
Reverse Engineering
The duo have created a business formula that, for them, works well.
“Our business model is different,” Marovic explained. “If you have a restaurant group like McDonald’s, or Fleming’s, they look for a good piece of real estate that works for them. Andrew and I find good real estate and then reverse engineer to decide what goes there based on what the community needs. We have a community focus at every one of our concepts.”
Marovic and Gabriel opened Playa Mesa restaurant on 17th Street in Costa Mesa because they loved the property, and it was next door to The Wild Goose, which they own.
They did a focus group and decided the community needed an upscale Mexican restaurant.
Dory Deli near the Newport Pier was a passion project for the duo and became one of their most successful restaurants.
“We opened it with the intent of breaking even,” Marovic said.
“In hindsight, it was one of the best decisions we have made and one of the best businesses we own. Now we’re doing a taqueria next door.”
Two-Week Eternity
Despite the rosy outlook, Marovic admitted that 2020 was not kind to their restaurants and the industry as a whole.
“The first closure was devastating,” Marovic recalled. “We were told it was going to be a two-week closure, and two weeks seemed like an eternity.”
But even being shut two weeks had its consequences. That length of closure meant food would spoil, so Marovic and Gabriel gave the food away to their 600 employees.
“I was in the kitchen flipping burgers and feeding staff,” recalled Gabriel with a laugh.
Once their restaurants reopened for takeout, Marovic noted that “we were still losing money, but losing less money than we would by being closed completely. It allowed us to keep employees working.”
“Andrew and I made a decision early on that we were willing to lose money as long as we kept employees working.”
And then there’s the toilet paper story.
When the pandemic began, people starting hoarding toilet paper, causing a scarcity in most stores. Marovic and Gabriel were able to acquire 9,000 rolls from their paper distributor, so they gave several thousand rolls away to senior living homes, and the other 5,000 rolls were distributed to the public via a drive-thru event at Malarky’s—10 rolls for $5.
“It took me 20 years to be called the Bar King, it took one weekend to be called the Toilet Paper King,” Marovic joked.
Local Stories
Marovic and Gabriel both hail from Orange County, so they have a good feel for the area.
“We grew up here, we go out to eat and drink, we know the area, we have a good grasp of what the area needs,” Marovic said.
“When we did Playa Mesa for example, we were not seeking to buy Ruby’s (the restaurant formerly in the Playa Mesa site), they wanted out of their lease. We figured if we didn’t get this property, someone else would, so we bought it and then wondered what this area needs. How about some good Mexican food?”
Marovic’s parents owned a neighborhood tavern in Fullerton where he worked while attending high school. Marovic attended USC and moved to the Silicon Valley, where he drew a nice salary but hated his job because he “sat in a cubicle and punched numbers and didn’t see daylight.”
“I came back home and pursued my passion to open restaurants and bars.”
Gabriel’s background was a bit chillier. His father had a company in Newport Beach that manufactured and distributed ice throughout California. He worked there for 17 years before leaving to pursue other interests.
Marovic and Gabriel live in Corona del Mar and have been friends for many years.
They share a passion for the restaurant industry. And at the moment, a passion for Muldoon’s.
“Muldoon’s has the coolest patio in Orange County,” said Marovic of the shady outdoor dining area that features a large tree growing in the middle of the patio. “When we were building the patio for Wild Goose, we were trying to have a tree in the middle to make it look like Muldoon’s, but we had to get rid of the tree to get more seating—but we bought Muldoon’s and finally got our tree in the courtyard.”
Property records indicate the duo paid about $10.5 million for the nearly 10,000-square-foot site on the southern edge of Newport Center.
Adding Relevancy
Unlike their other restaurants where they created the concepts, Muldoon’s is the first one to come intact with its own menu and staff.
“This place has been around for a long time, it’s an institution, so we’re not making crazy changes” other than bringing in nicer tables and chairs for the patio, Gabriel said.
They’ve been able to retain the Muldoon’s management team and staff, including Mary Murphy, who has been with Muldoon’s more than three decades.
Now, said Andrew, “We’re trying to get people to rediscover Muldoon’s. Everyone in the area knows the restaurant and has fond memories of dining here.”
“The previous owners (Sindi and Ron Schwartz) did a fantastic job opening the restaurant and creating a brand,” Marovic said. Now that those owners have retired and passed the torch on to The Lounge Group, the new ownership group wants to reinvigorate the brand and make it relevant to the next generation.
Newport Beach History
The Lounge Group duo had a similar plan with The Stag Bar, which originally opened near the Newport Pier in 1908 as part of the Stag Hotel. The Stag Bar officially opened its doors as a full bar in 1914. The bar itself is nearly 100 feet long, probably the longest bar in Newport Beach.
The name changed to The District Lounge in 2006, but to mark its centennial in 2014, the bar underwent a complete restoration and expansion. During the remodel, Marovic said they uncovered signs that date back to the early days—those signs are on display at The Stag Bar.
In 2019, the duo acquired Newport Beach Brewing Co. (known locally as BrewCo), which had been on the Balboa Peninsula for more than two decades. They kept the brewing equipment and the bar layout, but everything else is new, including the bar décor, menu, and the name: Helmsman Ale House.
“The bar tiles came from New York, from old historic properties,” said Marovic.
Industry Optimism
Marovic and Gabriel have learned from the past, which has shaped how they do business. It’s also made them optimistic about the future.
“The economy has seen previous recessions, and some opportunities [emerged],” reasons Marovic.
“This is a controversial time to discuss opening a restaurant. On the banking side, financial industries don’t want to lend to businesses that house restaurants and hospitality, so it’s a very challenging time, but we believe that the restaurant and hospitality industry is not going to go anywhere. People love eating out, people love the community aspect of it, this is where you go to meet people and hang out and talk and socialize. The restaurant industry is going to come back stronger than ever.”
As it does, Marovic and Gabriel are always thinking about what they can do better.
“The customer is our boss, and we want our boss to be happy,” Marovic said.
“We are always thinking about ways to improve the experience for the customer whether it’s service or ambiance. We are also community focused. Every concept we have is involved with the community. We are about the culture and embracing the culture.”
