The Munchies concept from the local El Rey restaurant group has finally returned, setting up shop in Columbia County.
Munchies Snacks had its grand opening, Tuesday afternoon, in the West Town shopping center, on the Washington Road corridor.
The new eatery draws from Munchies Lab fusion restaurant, which closed its Augusta location last fall. The owners, brother and sister Ramiro and Patty Galvan, spent six months developing the latest version of the concept.
“The space was pretty turnkey, but we wanted to make it our own,” said Patty Galvan.
The shop’s interior is motley with neon and blacklight-inspired décor and artwork, that reflects the colorful food options. Per its name, the new spot is a snack bar, with quirky iterations of traditional Mexican appetizers, such as corn with mayo, chamoy wraps and Mexican ceviche, along with a host of ice cream and smoothie selections.
In keeping with the fusion theme of the earlier restaurant, customers can mix and match ingredients and flavor profiles.
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“We grew up eating these kinds of sweet-savory snacks, and we were like, ‘Maybe this is an opportunity to bring it to the people,’” Patty Galvan said. “So that’s what we wanted to focus on, for now.”
She also notes the convenience of the space: alongside the potential Washington Road traffic, it’s in the same shopping center as flagship restaurant Taqueria El Rey.
Galvan said that bringing back the original Munchies Lab restaurant is still on the table, but that it’s a matter of finding the right location, preferably one that already has a kitchen.
“If we build it from scratch, there will be a lot of investment,” she said. “So we’re hoping to find a place that already had the kitchen set up where we can just kind of make it our own and go from there, but we would love to stay here [in Columbia County].”
Munchies Snacks is at 3830 Washington Road, Ste. 7, in Martinez.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
