DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Jason Cooper, left, and Matt Ochs, who said they are regular visitors to Magoo's Pizza, yesterday raised a toast to the restaurant, which will close Friday. Owner Gilbert Sakaguchi said rising costs have forced him to close the University location.
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University watering hole Magoo’s to close
Rising costs force the owner to go with a more mobile model for his pizza business
Longtime University Avenue watering hole Magoo's Pizza will serve its last keg of beer this Friday.
The bar and restaurant is closing after selling more than 55,000 kegs to a loyal following of college students, office workers and retirees.
Rising business costs -- including a 25 percent jump in rent over the last few years -- along with 15-hour work days forced owner Gilbert Sakaguchi to change his business model.
"Everything has increased," said Sakaguchi, 63. "We sell cheap beer so the profit is very small. Everyone tells me to raise the prices, but I don't want to raise prices. That wasn't the concept."
After closing the pub, Sakaguchi will operate at least 10 Magoo's Pizza wagons across the island. His first wagon opened in Waikiki in May, and a second will open on the corner of University and Varsity Avenues on Friday. A third wagon is set to open in Kapolei in two weeks.
"We're not dead yet. I want to do something different," he said, adding, "I just want to simplify my life."
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Magoo's Pizza restaurant, which is closing its University Avenue location Friday, will continue with at least 10 pizza wagons across the island.
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Magoo's, which generates $2.5 million in annual revenue, is known for its $5 pitchers of domestic beer or 99-cent mugs. It has more than 100 different draft beers and sells 125 kegs a week.
Business was in full swing at the University Avenue pub yesterday evening, but some patrons paused to reflect on the impending loss.
"It's very sad to see that it's closing," said Sarah Garrard, a University of Hawaii student who said she visits two or three times per week. "I'll miss the camaraderie of the regulars who come here, the cheap beer prices and the pizza. We come here because we know our friends are going to be here."
The operation has 90 employees. Sakaguchi said he plans to keep 30 workers to operate the wagons, which will continue offering free delivery service.
Desert Isle Beverages is negotiating to take over the space with Kamehameha Schools, which owns Puck's Alley, he said, adding that the company could open a new restaurant in a month.
So far they haven't made any arrangements for use of the Magoo's name, he said.
Sakaguchi, who founded Magoo's Pizza as a delivery operation in 1967, opened his first bar in Waikiki when he was 21 years old.
By 1975, he had 26 locations in Hawaii. He sold the chain to franchisees in 1982, and returned in 1998 to operate the current location.
The chain has roughly 20 locations in the Philippines and its last remaining local franchise in Aiea, under separate ownership.
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Vibiana Kealoha-Wong served up some beer at Magoo's Pizza yesterday. The venerable University Avenue spot will close after Friday.
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