But this music month the burgeoning Dunedin venue has an additional reason to celebrate.
It has been 10 years since Troy Butler started the Lower Stuart St cafe, then called Morning Magpie.
In those years it has morphed from a cafe, to a cafe, bar, gallery, arcade and venue; from two rooms to three; from one owner to two and from Morning Magpie to Maggies.
No mean feat in what has been one of the hardest decades for hospitality in recent memory, and for a fellow who started age 21 with a coffee machine in a window front down the same block, a few bucks and a plan he had to fight for.
"It was just me and the coffee machine. I had amazing friends, a small amount of pennies and I borrowed some from friends and a customer who really believed in me leant me some money. I had, I think, like $10,000 to take on the (year-by-year) lease.
"I didn’t even know how to poach an egg."
The support of a great many "awesome" friends and family, and always evolving had been the key to growth, as had the innumerable lessons learned along the way.
Managing the friend/employee dynamic had been a tough education, while expansion and steady growth in capacity and staff had their own lessons to impart.
"I battled through and we stuck, surprisingly."
Seven years after starting Maggies he took on business partner Sam Valentine, who also runs and works in the cafe, and with the infusion of new energy they expanded, taking over the space next door, starting a bar, adding arcade machines and a space for live music and functions — and changing the name to Maggies.
The plans to expand had been made before Covid and its lockdowns came around.
"So while in Covid, we thought, ‘hmm, what’s a good idea? Spend lots of money and double-down’."
It paid off, which was nice, he said.
Opening the extra room was almost like starting another business.
"Our capacity almost doubled, then we were doing nights, and then we were really busy. Which is amazing."
Driven in the main by Mr Valentine, the intimate 50 to 100-person venue is attracting an impressive lineup of notable and noted names in New Zealand and Dunedin music.
Last month it hosted artists Terrible Sons, Ebony Lamb and Keira Wallace, Hannah Everingham and Amiria Grenell.
Marlon Williams even dropped in for a surprise set in December.
A decade in business does not mean Mr Butler has all the answers.
"I’m still fumbling my way through. The venue opening definitely played to Sam’s strengths, and he has kind of taken the ropes on that, and we are being quite selective of who we have, because this place definitely suits a particular type."
They are still trying to crack the model of making the venue side of the business pay consistently, with the challenge of younger audiences not being high spenders.
"It’s a really hard balance — but there is a lack of good venues putting on good music and if a few people who come to a gig start coming in during the day then it’s great.
And we have the space there to utilise and if we can at least have it cost neutral, it’s something good and we’re doing something helpful for the music scene."
It’s also important to him that Maggies is an inclusive and safe space.
"It’s a really good, eclectic mix of suits and students and artists and it’s always been like that, which I quite like. There’s always been groups of lawyers (one of the main clientele comes from the courthouse opposite) sitting next to someone who can only afford a long black because they are an artist, and they quite happily sit together in the same space."
Supporting other local businesses and artists is also a priority.
Maggies’ bread is Body of the Year, ceramics are Shelley Brigit, eggs are from Agreeable Nature, greens come fresh each day from Sea Breeze Veges and the coffee beans are roasted by Vanguard Coffee.
Of course there is no talking Maggies without mentioning John (no, his name is not Maggie).
The world’s most patient Sharpei is a local celebrity in his own right, having featured in Dunedin City Council dog-related campaigns, in multiple articles and eatery guides and on Maggies cups and merchandise.
"People say hello to him. They don’t notice me any more. It’s delightful."
Over the past month Mr Butler has been more in the background than usual.
He has stepped back from the business for the first time in 10 years — though that is not proving that easy either.
"I feel bad being up here (in his studio) doing my art."
Maggies, he said, had been a labour of love.
"It’s been incredibly hard work. It’s been the longest 10 years of my life and the quickest."
