Sunnyland landmark is closing, but diners won’t have to wait long for a new restaurant

A longtime Sunnyland restaurant popular with families is closing on Oct. 28.

Lee’s Drive-In at 716 Alabama St. will close its doors for good at 3 p.m. on Sunday. Owner Tim Trott is retiring after spending 55 years in a restaurant his father Lee started in 1957, he said in an interview.

The building on the corner of Alabama and James streets won’t be empty for long. Johnny MacFarlane, Wendy DeFreest and John DeFreest will be remodeling the space soon and putting in The Filling Station, the second such restaurant in Bellingham, they said in an interview. The first Filling Station opened in Fairhaven in 2015. The DeFreests also own Avenue Bread.

Longtime customers on Thursday enjoyed one more meal at the restaurant. Word quickly spread that Lee’s was closing; the parking lot was packed at lunchtime on Thursday as orders for burgers, sandwiches and chicken fried steak stacked up in the kitchen.

In the 1970s Dean Bame remembers families stopping in regularly, particularly after church service. His mother, Helen, worked at the restaurant and he would come in occasionally to help her out.

“This was the place to be in Bellingham,” Bame said in an interview at the restaurant.

Lee Trott first opened the business as a small drive-in across the street from the current location, where WestEdge Credit Union is today. In 1975, Lee’s moved to a bigger space, which was formerly home to a gas station. Tim Trott and his step-mother, Helen, ran the business after it opened in its current space.

In the mid-1970s, that part of town was much more rural, Tim Trott said. Along with Lee’s, the area was home to a grocery store and several gas stations.

Trott said the success of the restaurant is because of the fantastic employees he’s had over the years. Many came to work as teens and put in several years learning the restaurant business. Three of his current cooks — Kristi Latshaw, Valerie Johnson and Nicola Hershey — are longtime employees who set the foundation for what Lee’s was about.

Tim Trott, 70, suffered a stroke in September 2017. He recovered, but that got him thinking about retirement. The deal recently concluded, which is why the business is closing this weekend.

The past couple of days have been a whirlwind for Trott and he has had help from his wife Jacki getting everything in order. After Lee’s closes he believes his fondest memories will be the employees he’s worked with and the customers, many of whom he counts as friends. He will also miss the daily routine, he said.

“This is the only job I’ve ever had,” said Trott, adding that he did serve in the military for two years.

As for what’s next, the plan is to have The Filling Station ready in the coming months, probably in December or January, Wendy DeFreest said.

While it will become The Filling Station, MacFarland said it will have some items that Lee’s customers will find familiar, like the chicken fried steak and fish and chips.

“It’s an honor to be moving into that spot,” MacFarland said.