Small towns are always being underwhelmed by shallow observations of their highway offerings. Fast food, gas stations, road signs — these are the hallmarks of Squamish, and towns like it across North America.
But like most façades, there is more to these places than one would expect and thank heavens for that, and for people who are (finally) putting a twist on ways to approach fast food.
While it might be easy to drive on by Squamish’s most colourful highway restaurant, assuming (incorrectly) that it offers the same undesirables as other fast food chains (saturated fat, sodium and sugar overkill), it would certainly be a loss for those who enjoy a good Mexican meal. Mag’s 99 (officially Mag’s 99 Fried Chicken and Mexican Cantina, but Mag’s is little catchier) has the kind of fast food that you of the kale smoothies (not a jab, I make them daily) won’t mind feeding your kids.
Of course, it’s not always really fast and there’s some good grease if you want it, but the chicken is chicken, not frozen composite. The slaw has discernable cabbage. The tortillas are corn. The potato salad isn’t drowning. Their tacos need a fork and the burritos silence men. It’s easily disassembled if you have little guys in your midst — our kids eat the crunchy and meaty bits separately.
If you don’t feel like making a picnic, this is the place to pretend you did, and you can also pretend you’re a lot further south without having to actually go anywhere, which is good, considering how damn nice it is around here this time of year.
Real Mexican food is welcome in this neck of the woods — and if you’ve ever travelled in Mexico, you’ll know the smokey, dusty, roadside roast-chicken restaurants that draw huge crowds of loyal diners weekly for their finger-licking offerings. It’s supposed to be messy, and it’s supposed to be fresh — Mag’s is both.
The restaurant just doubled its efforts with the opening of Mag’s 99 Squared in Port Alberni, so it seems as though we have a chicken mogul in our midst. We already have so many of the other, skiable kind in Sea to Sky, it’s nice to have a new one.
