A Night Out At the Airport!

Beaches Hopper to PDX… Shuttle to Fun!

Now here’s a cool night out!  On Friday, March 4^th, drop into Beaches Vancouver between 4:30-7:30 pm and catch our Shuttle Bus for a quick trip over to Beaches at the Portland Airport.  Enjoy Happy Hour between 4-6 pm, or Dinner, or Dessert, or just visit for a look around.  It’s also a great way to have a party with friends--Yep, we can do large parties!!

A Cozy Fireplace to Hang Around

We are so excited about what we have to offer, we want everyone to have the chance to experience it! The Bus will leave every ½ hour from Vancouver through 7:30.  That last shuttle leaving the Airport back to Vancouver will be around 8:30.  If you haven’t been to our PDX Beaches, you’re in for a treat.  We have created a tropical Beaches paradise with some incredible Murals, Palm Trees, Bamboo, Cabanas, and our Hot Rod Display. Don’t have the time, energy or money for a get-away? We will help you experience a mini-vacation right here!  We also have a perfect space that can handle private parties up to 60 people.  It is quite the experience with the same great service you’ve come to expect from us!

Celebrate a Birthday!

And if you, our friends, like it, we’ll do it every Friday!

See ya at the Beach!

Mark

Hurray, Hurray for Green Eggs & Ham!

Are you excited for some Green Eggs & Ham?

I am the Egg Man, Goo Goo G’joob. Okay, so maybe not!

It’s almost time for our annual Green Eggs & Ham Community Event. From March 7-11th, Our Team, as well as many Community volunteers, will serve Breakfast to around 48 Schools, which works out to about 7000 kids & parents!!

We started this program with the Vancouver School District Foundation back in 1996. The goal was simple--Get the parents into the schools to read with the kids. We just happened to be chatting about the needs of the schools around the time of the national program, Dr. Seuss' Read Across America.

The ‘Green Eggs’ breakfast became a natural for our goal, which also made it a little fun for the kids. Throw in a Dr. Seuss hat and a book for each child, a breakfast for everybody, the Cat in a Hat, some door prizes & lots of smiles, and you’ve got all the makings of a cool family get together.

And now, what started out as just a few schools, has spread throughout the Clark County community. All the food is prepared and sent out from Beaches Restaurant in Vancouver and the Firstenburg Center. We have 8 teams on the road at all times to make sure we get to the 7-10 Elementary schools each day, for 5 days in a row! We can’t thank the Schools enough for their participation in making it a success each & every year. And a special Thanks to the Beach Team, all our Community Volunteers, and Jan over at the VSD Foundation, for all their dedication.

So, it’s Sam I Am, Goo Goo G’joob, I am the Eggman….. checking out!

The ‘Team’ defines Beaches!

When I started Beaches, the premise for the concept came down to one word. . . Fun! After all, this is a business focused on people whether they work here, dine here, or if there’s something we can do for somebody in the community. All of these things have one thing in common--it’s about making people feel good.

So ‘Fun’ truly becomes the driving force for our Team. It’s Fun to watch this Team smile & laugh with the Guests. It’s Fun to watch them interact with each other out of respect & concern for one another. It’s Fun to have them involved in community activities that not only help other people, but give a sense of belonging. It’s Fun to watch the energy & positive attitude peak as more & more Guests come in each day. It’s Fun for me to know that we have 2 restaurants that are moving in the same direction because of ‘good’ people.

Beaches is simply a place that has a Team that Cares. Now that’s Fun!

Chat with you later,

Mark

2010 Update!

Well, it was a nice Holiday season at the Beach with all our friends, and of course, the Team. Being open on New Year’s Day was new for us since it has always been the day we do our Beaches Holiday Party. I decided to do it later in the month so we could get our PDX Team together with us. They deserve a little celebration after working hard all last year!

We have a new menu going in this week- some minor changes, but some really good new items. Mike’s been busy in the kitchen creating some of your NEW favorites. I’ve got to go with the Tuna Poke appetizer, the Miso Ginger Teriyaki Salmon, Wild Turkey Bread Pudding--and my favorite--the Pork Shanks with pomegranate sherry sauce. Now I could eat that for breakfast, lunch & dinner!!

Lots of fun things coming up like the Super Bowl, Valentine’s Day, Green Eggs & Ham, and before you know it, Beaches Summertime Cruisin’. And, if you want some breakfast for a good cause, put January 24^th on your calendar. We are doing a Celebrity Server Breakfast/ Fundraiser for the Boys & Girls Club. It will be a breakfast buffet from 8am-10am for a cost of $10 per person. Out of that, $7 per person & anything you tip will go to Charity. Can’t get any better than that!

PDX update…. Should be ready for the remodel around the end of the month. We are still open in the meantime for Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner.

Stop by on your way out of town, or just stop by for the heck of it.

Talk to you soon, Mark

Christmas Already??

Wow, it seems like we just finished up the Car Shows and now Santa & the Gang are in town. And of course with that comes the Christmas Ships, which will come by 5 times this year. It makes for a very busy holiday season thanks to YOU, our Guests, and of course the Team!

I think the best part of the season is having the Team & their families in to decorate the restaurant. They all put their little touches on it--some give it more thought than others (Cassondra & Chele--their part will be finished around January). Then, when we’re all done, we give away some goofy gifts, partake in some really bad Holiday Trivia, and then pick someone to take a little trip to someplace warm. This year it’s Michael Watts & Racheal Johnson heading off to Cabo next week. Considering the wind chill factor, the timing seems pretty good right now.

It’s also a time of year where helping others is part of the season. We just helped with an event for the Free Clinic, a great community organization that truly takes care of those in need. They raised some pretty good money--it was nice to see people step up & donate to a very worthy cause in these tough times. But, that is no surprise. . .the people in this community are known for helping out BIG. I just want to say thanks to everyone who contributed at a very cool event. Nice job to the committee, “Friends of the Free Clinic.”

The Airport is coming along, although we’re probably about 2 weeks off of our projections for starting the remodel. If I had to guess, it will probably shut down around Mid –January at this point. We’ve had a lot of good people helping us with the project- Don, TJ, Rachel, Jeff, Les, Ron, Judy, Randy, Scott, Devon & Mike --just to name a few. Once we open the restaurant back up I think people are going to absolutely love the feel of the place. Yeah, you’re going to want to go there even if you’re staying in town. It’ll be a fun experience!

Well, gotta go. Chat with you again soon,

Mark

Holidays, Happenin's and Helpin' Out!

Well, back from vacation & right back into the thick of things. We had a very fun ‘Howl-oween Barkfest & Pet Parade’ recently. Marilyn put on a great event for our Guests, and the Team all dressed up to give it some ‘spirit’. Now it’s time to shift seasons and get ready for the Christmas Ships & all the Holiday parties. Our plan is to truly put you in the holiday mood with a very warm and inviting Christmas feel. Not quite “Christmas Vacation,” but it’ll look good!

The Airport project is in its final stages of design. We meet with the Team from the Port of Portland this week to get the blessing on our ideas. I think they’re gonna like it! Our goal when we’re done with the remodel at PDX is to create two different Beaches experiences not only with design, but also with the food & beverages. Mike & Aaron are working on creating a whole new menu with a tropical flair adding some wild new dishes (Don’t worry, we’ll have the tried & true favorites on there also). Mike made an appetizer the other night which I finished off completely. Had him make another one…. You know…. Just to make sure he could duplicate it! (It was that good.)

On the community front, we have donated $123,000 in cash so far in 2009. We have a few more things we want to do this year, so we’ll keep you posted. A fun thing we did with the Vancouver School District Foundation was to have each Board Member adopt a school. We took Washington Elementary School and will be doing a dinner for them at a Dinner Theatre event scheduled for November 17^th. Theresa and her Team do such a great job taking care of the kids & their families. If you’d like to help at the dinner--let me know!

And…all kinds of stuff today…One of our dear friends, Leslie Durst, made a suggestion for a second Charity Table when the ‘best table’ is booked. After all, it’s about making the donation that counts, and she has been very generous over the years. So, we are happy to say we now have the “Leslie Durst Back-Up Charity Table.” It may be the second best table, or we may just put you in the kitchen. Hey, it’s the back-up table! I don’t think Leslie has got the word yet, so I will be interested how fast it gets to her from our Facebook page here. Leslie does so much for our community that it is a privilege to have her recognized at the Beach!

That’s all for now. Chat with you again soon.

Mark

See Ya Next Week!

Taking a quick vacation to freshen up the old brain. Just want to say thanks to all of you who signed up on our Facebook page. We look forward to keeping you up-to-date on events, menu changes, specials, our community work, etc..

See ya in a week,

Mark