Magoo's pub site gets new tenant

Uniclubs signs a lease to take over the pub, with plans to open a similar concept

A local restaurant and bar operator has signed a lease to take over the former Magoo's Pizza space in Puck's Alley.

Local entrepreneurs Mike Powell and Peter Faulkner created Uniclubs Inc. -- short for university clubs -- in June to operate a similar concept to the long-time watering hole, known for its $5 pitchers and 99-cent mugs of domestic beer.

The 3,794-square-foot space at 1015 University Ave. was listed with a five-year term lease by Colliers Monroe Friedlander Inc.

Magoo's Pizza owner Gilbert Sakaguchi shut down the popular pub on June 29 because of rising business costs, instead opting to run multiple pizza wagons across the island.

Powell and Faulkner, who also operate beverage supplier Desert Isle Inc., managed Magoo's from October 2003 to August 2006. The company, which has yet to receive state permits and a liquor license, declined to specify an opening date or the new name of the pub.

Meanwhile, Arnold's Beach Bar & Grill on Saratoga Road in Waikiki will reopen as Magoo's Pizza/Arnold's Tiki Bar next Friday.

Bar owner Randy Spear last week signed a licensing deal to use the Magoo's name and recipes for its popular pizza, submarine sandwiches and other menu items.

Spear, who has been a Magoo's customer since the 1970s when it opened on Kalakaua Avenue, said he had been talking to Sakaguchi about operating a franchise for the past 10 years.

Arnold's Beach Bar, which has about a dozen employees, plans to hire another dozen workers when it reopens as Magoo's, he said, adding that Sakaguchi will help start up the new kitchen and train the workers.

"He's entered licensing agreements in the past where, after people start to make money, they start changing the product," Spear said. "Magoo's (in Waikiki) is back and it's going to be the exact same pizza."

Arnold's Beach Bar, which measures about 2,000 square feet, has been in operation for nearly 10 years and initially started serving exotic items such as cow testicles -- known as Rocky Mountain oysters -- rattle snake, King Cobra, bear, buffalo and ostrich burgers.