One of Marni Gaylord’s first jobs out of college was working on the production crew for the hit ‘80s sitcom, “Cheers.” It might have been there that the idea crept into her head of one day owning a bar. But it was only recently, after a long career in the entertainment business, much of it in marketing, that Gaylord finally realized her dream to own her own bar and restaurant.
She says that the advancements in AI are starting to take over much of the tasks she handled anyway, so she decided to take the plunge into a new career. She grew up in Long Beach, graduated from Long Beach Wilson High, and spent a lot of her free time in Seal Beach.
When the opportunity to buy the former “Glory Days,” restaurant arose, it was a near-perfect fit. She wanted a place that offered a sports bar atmosphere and also was set up for live music. The biggest differences so far are the changes Gaylord is making to the menu. She’s pulling from a life of dining out and traveling and putting her own spin on things.
“It’s just a different way of being creative,” Gaylord said, referring to her time in creative marketing in the entertainment field.
One of her personal favorites is fresh juices. She installed a juicing machine in the restaurant so they could offer fresh juices, not only a la’ carte, but as mixers in cocktails. She patterned her margaritas after the Tex Mex restaurant in Santa Monica. Shortly before closing the purchase, she had vacationed in Hawaii. She tasted as many different foods and drinks as she could on the trip.
Gaylord was interested in developing a lapu lapu bowl drink. She was also particularly interested in a mai tai she could model hers on, and she found her favorite at Kimos, on Maui. A few weeks after her visit, Kimos was burned down in the Maui fires.
“That mai tai has even more significance now,” Gaylord said.
Gaylord said it will likely be a full year or so before she is done remaking the place to fit her vision. For now, Marni’s is up and running, highlighting local sports and musicians and doing it with Gaylord’s flair. At the ribbon cutting, guests were treated to pizza and other appetizers, as well as sampling some of the new drinks.
Gaylord said the city and community has been welcoming in the change over and she said her main goal was to make the place a spot where locals liked to be. She said she was ready to celebrate again and adopted the tagline – “A Party Everyday.”
“All I wanted to do was bring the Seal Beach people back to the restaurant,” Gaylor said.
Marnis’ website is still under construction, but some information can be found at the static page at marnisoc.com, or you can call (562) 594-3800 for more information.
