Mike and Susann Gillern were big fans of a restaurant they previously worked at, so they decided to bring a similar concept to Birch Bay.
On Friday, Aug. 26, the couple opened Dee's Country Diner at 4823 Alderson Road, just east of The C Shop. The restaurant is currently open from 5:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. six days a week, closed on Mondays. Breakfast is served all day, while the lunch menu kicks in at 10 a.m.
Mike and Susann met while working at a restaurant in Seattle. It was the type of place that became a regular hangout for neighbors: The employees knew the names of all the customers, where they were would sit and what they wanted to order. While the summer tourism season will bring in an influx of new customers, the Gillerns want this restaurant to have that regular hangout feel, Susann said.
The menu has items you'd expect to find at a country diner, such as biscuits and gravy, country fried steak and omelets. Susann said they wanted to keep it basic, offering homestyle food. Word of the restaurant opening spread quickly in the small community.
"We were surprised by the response. The only thing we did was turn on the open sign," Susann said.
While they've been in the restaurant industry for some time, they quickly learned that becoming business owners means handling much more paperwork.
"We still love running this, though. Our focus is being a hometown restaurant, and we're getting good feedback," Susann said.
While coming up with a name for the restaurant, the Gillerns' children suggested Dad's Diner, since Mike is the cook. However, "Dad" was shortened to "D" by family members for texting purposes, and the nickname stuck. They decided on a similar-sounding nickname for the restaurant.
For further information about the restaurant, call 360-393-4055.
OTHER RESTAURANT HAPPENINGS
It's been a busy end of summer for local restaurant changes, and September promises to be just as busy in terms of openings.
Josh Silverman, who operated Nimbus before he shut it down this past summer, announced a new restaurant venture: Dashi Noodle Bar. The noodle bar will be next door to Ciao Thyme Catering Kitchen at 207 Unity St. in Bellingham.
According to the announcement online (dashinoodlebar.com), Silverman is planning to have the open the restaurant sometime during the week of Sept. 19, initially being for lunch hours most Tuesdays through Fridays to test out recipes and get customer feedback. In a blog post, Silverman described his new restaurant as "quick-casual," and plans on bringing the flavors of Japan, Korea, Vietnam and Thailand to the Pacific Northwest.
"The goal is to see Dashi Noodle Bar in a permanent location in the near future where we will be open more extended hours, including dinner and late night," Silverman wrote in the blog post.
Customers will get a chance to create what they want by choosing the noodle, meat and dashi (which means "special broth" in Japanese) as well as other condiments.
Other eateries expected to open this month include Jimmy Johns gourmet sandwich shop at 1204 Railroad Ave., Suite 102, (next to Baron Communications) and Time in Play café at 311 E. Holly St. (near Saturna Capital and the YMCA).
With a flurry of restaurant openings has also come a flurry of closures. To date, I've counted 27 Whatcom County restaurant closings, so this area is averaging about three a month. The most recent closures include CJ's Beach House, House of Orient and Oriento.
VILLAGE BOOKS GOING TO BELLIS FAIR
Village Books is planning to open a holiday store in Bellis Fair. According to its announcement in The Chuckanut Reader, the Fairhaven bookstore will have a space in the mall during the shopping season (October through January) in the Macy's wing.
Along with books, the Bellis Fair store will offer a variety of other gift items, including calendars, holiday decorations and cards.
"We know that a lot of our customers shop at the mall during the holiday season," co-owner Dee Robinson said in the announcement. "We thought it was time we offered them some added convenience."
OTHER TIDBITS
• A busy couple of weeks in Bellingham building permits: A variety of permits were approved by the city to do dining area improvements at Western Washington University for its new vendor, Aramark. It includes Arntzen Hall ($750,000 of tenant improvement work), Ridgeway Commons ($1.1 million) and a remodel of Starbucks at Arntzen.
• An interior remodel permit was issued for Walmart at Meridian Street. Estimated costs of the remodel is around $927,000.
• At 2405 Meridian St. (in the Fountain district), a permit was issued to split the existing space into two, with one space for a musical instrument repair shop.
• At 909 Squalicum Parkway, sign permits have been issued for two tenants moving into the facility - Rasmussen Marine Electric and Radar Marine.
• At 4151 Meridian St., Suite 100, a tenant improvement permit was filed for a new restaurant called Super Buffet.
• At 206 Prospect St., a tenant improvement permit was filed for a church called Oikos Fellowship.
• TJ Maxx at 4289 Meridian St. has filed a permit to remodel the store's dressing rooms.
