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Kildare’s owner opening Mexican restaurant in downtown Scranton, second restaurant at Shoppes at Montage

By Shelby Fisk sfisk@scrantonedition.com
Scranton Edition Staff Writer / Photographer

Next year Scranton will boast two more restaurants.

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Molly Brannigans, 101 Adams Ave., Scranton, was three years in to a five-year contract, and six months in to a renewed five-year lease which began in March, when it closed its doors.

Shelby Fisk / The Times Leader

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Dave Magrogan, CEO and owner of Dave Magrogan Group (DMG) with headquarters in West Chester, oversees restaurant concepts including Kildare’s Irish Pub, with locations in Scranton, West Chester and King of Prussia, Manayunk and Newark, Del., and Doc Magrogan's Oyster House with locations in West Chester and Dover.

Magrogan when reached Tuesday said the company’s latest concept, Mas Mexicali Cantina, will open in downtown Scranton and a Doc Magrogan's Fish Market will open in the former Kildare’s at the Shoppes at Montage, Moosic.

Another Mas Mexicali Cantina will be opening in West Chester, he added.

On Tuesday, Magrogan said he was in a Mexican restaurant in California researching authentic Mexican cuisine for his newest restaurant concept.

He said that the restaurant is the brainchild of his Doc Magrogan’s Oyster House partner, John Caulfield. The over-the-top grille will feature affordable family favorites like fresh salsas, spicy tacos, bandito burritos, sizzling fajitas, and endless chips and salsa.

“It will be Spanish-California rock-and-roll,” Magrogan said. “There will be value for families and late night atmosphere.”

Doc's Fish Market will be a variation of Doc Magrogan's Oyster House, a vintage 1920s oyster house that specializes in hand-selected seafood, handcrafted beer, premium wine, and live entertainment.

Kildare’s had been operating in a free-standing facility at the Shoppes at Montage before relocating the business to 119 Jefferson Ave. in downtown Scranton on March 12, just prior to the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade in Scranton.

The new Mexican restaurant will be just half of a mile from the downtown Kildare’s and offer day and nighttime friendly atmosphere like Kildare’s.

“Scranton has a lot of energy,” Magrogan said. “And these concepts will bring a lot of business to Scranton.”

Magrogan said that job postings for Mas Mexicali Cantina will be posted on a company Web site and craigslist next week. He expects 60 to 80 new jobs for the Mexican restaurant. Renovations will begin after the lease, being drafted, is signed, he added.

In the meantime, roughly the same amount of jobs will be available at Doc Magrogan's Oyster House on MontageMountain. Magrogan said that restaurant will be open by winter or spring of 2010.

Molly Brannigans was in default for failing to pay the agreed lease payments and loan payments to the city’s Office of Economic and Community Development.

According to two separate documents obtained from the Lackawanna County Court, the city of Scranton is seeking $615,479.62 and the Scranton Parking Authority is seeking $63,597.03 from the former Scranton business, Molly Brannigans, which was operating under the trade name, Scranton Irish Pubs LLC.