Article content continued

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or

Atlantis has been located on the corner of Victoria Avenue and Hamilton Street since 2004, said Martin, when its former owner Athas Efthimiou moved the café from south Albert Street.

Martin was 23 when he and Abbey, then 22, bought the business in 2006.

They were both managers at the Cathedral Freehouse and Martin’s sister Jocelyn was working at Atlantis, when the offer came up to buy it.

“We didn’t have any money; I didn’t know how we were going to do it. But she went back and said yes and we started negotiations,” said Martin.

They found investors, including Abbey’s parents. Today, the two couples comprise the ownership group.

The Martins were honoured in 2010 with the Regina and District Chamber of Commerce’s Paragon Awards’ young entrepreneur award. They were also nominated for the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce’s ABEX awards.

The next year, the couple opened a restaurant next door, Flip, with Dave and Jackie Straub.

They opened a second restaurant, Malt City, in 2015, at the corner of 11th Avenue and Cornwall Street, followed by a second, short-lived, Atlantis location next door.

“It was worlds apart,” said Martin. “12th Avenue is a real barrier between the people that work north of 12th and south of 12th. It is a real barrier; they don’t walk for a coffee those extra blocks.”

Photo by BRANDON HARDER / Regina Leader-Post

Brewed Awakening briefly took over that space.

“That one was tough, because you had the bus stop in front and it was kind of hard to make it as visible as we would have liked to made it,” said MacMurchy. “Just not as much immediate foot traffic I think, not quite as accessible.”