The new Lava Cantina downtown is now open for business. The restaurant, which is located at 151 Third St. in the space formerly occupied by Lucy’s Retired Surfers Bar, opened earlier today and will have a grand opening celebration later this month.
“It looks great,” says owner Ian Vaughn. “Everyone who’s been here has been blown away.”
In late August, Vaughn announced he’d assumed full operational control of Lucy’s, as well as the Roux House and Schlittz & Giggles locations on Third Street downtown, all of which had been owned and operated by downtown businessman Jack Warner.
The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Warner has retained minority ownership in the restaurants, and continues to own a Schlittz & Giggles location in the Perkins Road overpass area.
Now that Lava Cantina is open, Vaughn says he will turn his attention to the Roux House, which will be rebranded into a new concept called Repeal 33, a reference to the end of the Prohibition Era. He says he hopes to begin work on the bar later this year.
Potential changes to the downtown Schlittz & Giggles are in the planning stages for 2017.
—Stephanie Riegel
