In just a few short weeks, an institution that has long served as a pillar of the student culinary experience will cease to exist. Maguires has finally succumbed to the unyielding tide of gentrification that has swept in a plethora of new monosyllabic, health-oriented eateries (Sprout, Mooch, Hatch, etc.). Maguires, or “Mags” as she is affectionately known to many, is set to be replaced by Chopped, a glorified salad bar franchise.
The change could hardly be more drastic. Aside from fewer calories and more regular bowel movements, it seems unlikely that Maguires’ new incarnation will have much it can offer students that our beloved greasy-spoon/convenience shop hybrid could not. Mags has shepherded students through many an exam season with €2.75 rolls and competitively priced hot beverages. Will Chopped sell tabloids and cheap naggins? I don’t think so. Say what you will about Mags, but she’s always been good to us students. Now, as her time draws to an inelegant close, we owe it to her to give her a proper farewell and to commit her to the place of honour she so rightly deserves in our collective memory.
So how will we choose to immortalise Mags? What will be her enduring memory? Will it be the placid faces of the staff who all seem to possess the enviable ability to be simultaneously both impolite and pleasant? Will it be the cutting-edge innovative spirit that brought us game-changers like the spinach tortilla wrap? Or will it be the steadfast dedication to the illogical technique of putting all of the salads into the roll before the chicken, thus causing the chicken to continuously fall out while you eat it?
Mags has supplied us all with our fair share of treasured memories. But I would be remiss if I failed to mention that there have sometimes been bumps along the way. Long will a mate of mine remember the time when he was refused extra mayonnaise on his roll. And the end of €5 naggin deal weighed as heavy on our hearts as it did our wallets. Yet, we should nevertheless endeavor to remember the good. She deserves nothing less.
The days after they shut her doors for the last time will be dark. She will surely and truly be missed. Although she may be departing from our world, she will always live on in our memories. So in your time of mourning, take solace in the fact that whether it be the grease that has attached itself to the walls of your arteries or the warmth of an endearing memory of your time spent together, a piece of Maguires will live on forever in your heart.
