After nearly 20 years of developing popular restaurants in Laguna Beach, Scott McIntosh, the restaurateur behind Reunion Kitchen and Asada Tacos + Beer, is calling it quits. Their last day is this coming Sunday.
“It’s a significant heart breaker,” Scott told me this morning. “Even my daughters started crying when we told them. Our family has been here for 20 years, and it’s rough leaving Laguna.”
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McIntosh first launched Reunion Kitchen in North Laguna’s Boat Canyon (the Pavilion shopping center) in September 2016. Its little brother, Asada Tacos + Beer, came along a month later in October 2016, with each back-of-house kitchen connected by a short hallway for the two siblings.
Many of the employees serving guests through their final day this Sunday have been with Scott and his wife and business partner, Rosemary, since the restaurants opened nearly 10 years ago.
"We told all of our staff about a month ago and just hoped they’d stay with us while we helped ‘relocate’ them. Instead of any of them leaving, they stepped up with more help. They’ve really been our family all along," he said.
"Fortunately, we’ve gotten each of our 40 workers placed in another one of our restaurants – that was really a major priority for Rosemary and me,” he added.
The “first few years” in Boat Canyon, both F&B concepts were quite successful.
“And when COVID hit, our business actually improved,” Scott said. “I think by that time, we had established a real community of locals, and they were so supportive of us. But it was after COVID that we began to see a real difference. Our international travelers had evaporated and the new tourist influx was just … different. And, of course, many of our local residents have been traveling more now or just scaling back on their dining out.”
Over the last few declining years, the Boat Canyon landlords worked closely with Scott and Rosemary. “They were willing to bend over backwards to keep us here,” he said.
The couple’s working relationship with these particular landlords reaches far beyond Laguna Beach – they’re the same landlords of the Anaheim Hills shopping complex where the McIntoshes established their first Reunion Kitchen concept.
“It was our great success there that had them asking if I’d consider doing the same concept in Laguna Beach’s Boat Canyon. So, we agreed to not only do one concept (Reunion in the old Umami Burger space) but also revive a second in the smaller restaurant, Asada (formerly Senor Fish).
While the restaurants struggled in the last few years, the McIntosh relationship with the landlords continued to flourish. “We talked about changing my concept here and looked at many other solutions, but it just wasn’t fitting together. But, I’ll be helping them bird dog some great potentials for these locations.”
Noting Laguna’s significant and trending shift away from full-service dining to more counter-service/fast gratification,” Scott said he hopes that full-service will continue to shine in Laguna Beach – and hopefully with new operators who take over the Reunion Kitchen space.
”When you walk away, you really have to turn your back and walk away, but I sure loved our custom butcher block tables that we bolted to the floor!” he added.
For those of you who remember … Scott McIntosh first arrived in Laguna Beach with Nick Nickoloff and his father, Craig, when the partners decided to open their first Nick’s Laguna Beach concept in August 2008. Scott had worked several years prior for Craig’s famed Claim Jumper restaurants, eventually helping devise menu concepts and changes for the popular chain.
After Nick’s was up and rolling like a speed train, Scott eventually broke from the partnership to start his own restaurant empire.
That began with Scott’s first concept in Laguna Beach, Asada, which launched in 2010 just a few doors south of Nick’s in the former watering hole, Javier’s. A couple years later, he pulled up stakes, citing irreparable differences with the then-landlords, and moved to Anaheim Hills to begin the Reunion Kitchen concept.
“When we left Laguna Beach then, I always sensed I would be back,” said McIntosh. “And I’d love to find our way back here again someday. It’s all about timing and location.”
Meanwhile, McIntosh’s time seems to be wall-to-wall stuffed with plenty of activity as he and Rosemary continue to operate five remaining restaurants –
• Four full service Reunion Kitchens in Anaheim Hills, the Brea Improv, Corona and Santa Barbara.
•One (much larger full service) Asada Cantina concept in the San Clemente outlet mall
And – in his spare time – McIntosh is opening another three restaurants later this fall and next spring – two more of the popular concepts (each) in San Clemente and a new concept, Sorelle Italian, opening in Corona.
And there’s more – still – in final negotiations.
“The great thing is that people are always going to be hungry,” Scott chirped. “We just want to fill that need with the added bonus of real community and warmth … because people are always going to want an anchor in their lives, too.”
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