Published March 2006

Canyons an eatery
for business or pleasure

By John Wolcott
SCBJ Editor

Snohomish County Business Journal/ JOHN WOLCOTT Doug Phillips, general manager of Canyons in Monroe, said business people who frequent the restaurant during the week also bring family and friends to dine in their leisure hours.

Many of the weekday customers at Canyons restaurant in Monroe are from the local business community, usually accompanied by clients or staff. But, many of those same business people return with family and friends for evening and weekend leisure-time dining, said Doug Phillips, general manager of the new restaurant.

Scott Perry, the founder and CEO of Canyons, has created a light, fun-filled atmosphere for business people and families, featuring a menu of Southwest-themed lunch and dinner items. His first restaurants were highly successful in Redmond, Canyon Park and Mountlake Terrace, spurring plans to open new eateries from Marysville to Tacoma.

Decorated with colorful walls and artwork from the American Southwest, Canyons’ menu carries such items as Southwest chicken fiesta salads, smoked barbecue ribs and enchilada verde tortillas. But there also are a variety of choices that are not distinctly Southwestern, including steaks, prawns, grilled honey-lime chicken, burgers and popular sandwiches and wraps.

“All of our restaurants are operated by experienced owner-managers and service staff, which is why we can boast about great service as well as popular menus,” Perry said.

Phillips said the community has been good to Canyons and he tries “to do a lot for the community,” noting that local business owners also use the restaurant’s private meeting room, which seats 10 to 50 people.

And, he has promoted the locally owned chain’s variety of special events that draw both business and nonbusiness customers.

“We’ve already held several free, salad-bar teacher appreciation parties for staff from Snohomish, Monroe, Sultan, Gold Bar and Lake Stevens schools, with similar events to honor the Snohomish and Monroe varsity football and basketball teams and the Snohomish swim team,” he said, promising that more such events will be coming.

Even at the restaurant’s special VIP pre-opening event a year ago, Canyons collected cash and food donations for the Sky Valley Food Bank, a sign of its commitment to being involved in the Monroe community.

In Monroe, Canyons is a hundred feet north of Highway 2 on Kelsey Avenue, opposite Fred Meyer and only a couple blocks from the Galaxy 12-screen movie theater.

“We’ve found we do particularly well in a neighborhood with theaters,” Perry said, noting his Mountlake Terrace restaurant is near the Regal Mountlake 9.

Canyons also will host business groups, special family parties and gatherings for a variety of events as well as provide off-site catering.

The restaurant has free high-speed Wi-Fi Internet access, plus seven digital wide-screen television screens, four 43-inch high-definition plasma screens and one 50-inch plasma screen. Used for sports shows in the lounge, the high-tech equipment also is ideal for multi-media presentations for business meetings at the restaurant, Phillips said.

The restaurant’s high staff retention level is seen in managers with 18 years of employment. Many of Perry’s nearly 300 employees have been with him for more than a decade.

Related: Bistro offers fine dining and friendly service

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