PORT ANGELES — Hey, what’s a seven-letter word that sums up cold, creamy and delicious?
Until someone coins it, just say, “Granny’s.”
And that word also can make do for hamburgers with bacon, cheese and fried egg; for fresh blackberry pie; and for the best borscht this side of the Cascades.
Still, the little restaurant on the way to Lake Sutherland and Lake Crescent probably is best known for the soft-serve ice cream it dispenses from a 37-year-old machine for local folks who are in the know and for tourists who’ve asked those locals what’s the best place for a break from the twisting highway.
Granny’s Cafe, 235471 U.S. Highway 101, lies tucked away by the side of the road, but it’s easy to find in the summer.
People line up from the walk-up window all the way to the main road waiting to order soft-serve ice cream in vanilla, chocolate or the rare two-flavors-in-one-cone special.
Where’s Granny?
Granny’s also is the kind of place to cradle a cup of joe in your cold hands, settle back and wait for — well, Granny.
She’s not here, having died some 15 years ago, but enough of her character remains to give the place its kitschy charm.
A brief history of a little eatery at a wide spot in the road:
As the Indian Valley Drive-In, it was opened in 1956 by Earl and Albert Tundall, who sold it to Marion Raef — Granny — in the 1970s.
Although the original name remains on the adjacent motel, local folks’ nickname for the restaurant became official.
Terry and Carol Roszatycki bought it in 1999, raising three children there and rebuilding after part of the motel burned in 2010.
They eventually sold it to their daughter, Angela.
Granny’s Cafe remains a West End enterprise.
Angela met her husband, Troy Tamas, when he worked as a bartender at the Lake Crescent Lodge.
And the Tamases hire locally — 16 workers during the tourist season.
“We’ve always employed high school kids,” said Angela, 32, “given them their first job, their first chance, and they always have such a good attitude.
“We kind of follow the school schedule, so they go off on their way, and then we have people returning every year, coming back in their college summers.”
Closing for season soon
The summer is winding down, and the Tamases plan to shorten their hours.
As of Tuesday it will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
They will close Granny’s for season on Nov. 15.
It will reopen Feb. 12.
When vacation time returns next year, hours will be back to 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. seven days a week.
Angela makes all of Granny’s desserts — even bakes the bread for the French toast — and cooks her own soups.
The most popular is clam chowder, but Angela, being Polish-American, prefers borscht.
(For the uninitiated, that’s soup made from beets and served with sour cream.)
She said it doesn’t sell too well at Granny’s.
No matter.
The restaurant gets by on fresh garden salads, pies that consume 100 pounds of blackberries a week and sandwiches that include the Whirley Burger — a beef patty topped with bacon, Cheddar cheese and a fried egg.
Your doctor might shudder, but your granny would approve.
She’d also understand the restroom arrangement: Go out of the cozy dining room, through the overflow area, under the walkway, past the gazebo and turn right just before you greet the goat.
That’s right, the goat. And the donkey. And the chickens.
Meanwhile, back in the dining room, it was snug on a chilly day that threatened to turn damp, if not outright wet.
One couple stopped in asking if they’d passed by the Salt Creek Recreation Area.
Yes, and they were on the wrong road, Angela said, redirecting them to state Highway 112.
The man said he’d remember the directions. He’ll probably also remember Granny’s.
That’s part of the secret of making a success of a small enterprise in a barely wide spot in the road, Angela said.
Best treat
Sure, Granny’s got mention as the top-rated Treat Stop in KING-TV’s survey of “Best Northwest Escapes” published in May, and Angela says it may owe something to Outside magazine’s feature on Port Angeles and its surrounding charms.
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[FOR MORE ON KING-TV’S AWARD:
Click on: http://nwescapes.king5.com/best/treat-shop/family-fun/northwest-washington/slideshow
Watch video below, or click on: http://www.king5.com/videos/entertainment/television/programs/evening/2015/05/20/grannys-gets-best-treat-stop-for-classic-soft-serve/27645641/ ]
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“The amount of people either discovering the Peninsula or returning to the Peninsula for vacations — we are so much busier than ever,” Angela said.
“The traffic here has never been like this before.
“Maybe it was the magazine article; maybe it’s a trend, the Pacific Northwest.
“Port Angeles has lots of great people who are establishing roots here. It definitely has a lot of attractions.”
Meanwhile, will she and Troy make Angela’s own mom the restaurant’s new namesake?
“My mom would love to be the next Granny,” Angela said, but added, looking around the restaurant, “It’s a lot of work. I don’t know how long it will be. Eventually.”
But she’ll bring up her kids as she was reared, in the restaurant trade.
“I don’t think there’s a better place to raise a kid than a restaurant,” she said.
“My husband and I were raised in the restaurant business.
“It’s given us a great work ethic I don’t think we would have had otherwise.”
Landmark location
Hard work preparing and serving good food, great borscht (occasionally) and filling cones with that cold, creamy, delicious soft-serve ice cream has made Granny’s Cafe a Highway 101 landmark.
Still, there’s another reason:
“We just take pride in what we do. I definitely think word of mouth from the local folks really helps with tourism,” Angela said.
“Like, ‘Where should we eat?’
“’Go to Granny’s.’”
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Reporter James Casey can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jcasey@peninsuladailynews.com.
