WASHTUCNA, Wash. — One year after re-opening, Sonny’s Tavern is profitable, owner Bridget Coon says.

“The short answer is yes,” she told the Capital Press.

Coon and husband Paul purchased the long-time Washtucna, Wash., restaurant in August 2023, and re-opened it in October 2023.

They are also ranchers, parents and community leaders. Paul is chief of Adams County Fire District 6. Bridget is first vice president of the Washington Farm Bureau and on the local school board.

“We really started out with the focus of starting simple, what was achievable and staying dialed in to the core business metrics of a restaurant — your cost of goods and labor,” she said.

They had a big learning curve figuring out expenses, but invested in a modern point-of-sales system and phone app to track orders, sales per labor hour and other information.

January was the slowest month, but business picked up after that.

“I try not to get too wrapped up in the day-to-day and look at those averages over a month, over a quarter and now I’ll have all this great data going into a second year,” Coon said. 

Sonny’s will mark the one-year anniversary of its re-opening with a celebration on Oct. 26.

‘Birthday spot’

“To be honest, I didn’t really know what to expect, but if I’ve had expectations, they’ve been exceeded in a lot of ways,” Coon said.  “Particularly in the warm response from our community.”

They saw a need for a gathering place. Washtucna doesn’t have a grocery store, post office or bank.

Sonny’s hosts an average of three events or group meetings each month.

It’s become a place where people routinely get together for casual visits, Coon said.

“It’s become the birthday spot, or the family celebration or get-together spot,” she said. “To see that come to life every day, it’s pretty cool. It’s so important to people who are already living rurally, they just can show up.”

Washtucna has a population of about 200.

“Our local support footprint is probably an 80-mile radius,” Coon said.

The location is remote enough that Bridget drives about 30 miles north every Monday to meet a food distribution truck at a Mexican restaurant in Ritzville, to pick up frozen food items like chicken and fries and bring them “the rest of the way” back to Washtucna.

Beer and produce are delivered right to the door.

Labor

The restaurant has 13 part-time employees and the payroll was more than $122,000 during the year.

Bridget said her favorite part has been “giving people jobs and opportunities in our area that did not exist before.”

“Making it a fun, positive place to work and seeing the interactions and positive feedback on the service people are given — the warm atmosphere people were clearly wanting or in need of, we’re delivering, and it’s through the people Paul and I have hired,” she said. “Our Sonny’s crew has just been the best.”

Next steps

The Coons purchased the open lot and old grocery store building next door to Sonny’s. 

It was an “unexpected … unscheduled investment in growth,” Bridget said. She’s already dreaming up ideas for the building space.

“I don’t know what our plans are, to be honest,” she said with a laugh. “But if we can set an example, just to say it is worthwhile and you can be successful and it is just such a great value to everyone around us to invest in our own community … those seeds of businesses and services that haven’t really been available locally can start growing.”

Statistics from Sonny’s Tavern first year since re-opening, courtesy of owner Bridget Coon:

• We’ve served about 7,500 burgers, salads and signature Beefy Totchos with our Bar U Ranch ground beef. We go through a whole beef equivalent of grind every six weeks or so. We have processed seven head for use and sale through Sonny’s so far.

• About 4,500 orders of Chicken &.Joes, the equivalent of 2,250 chickens and that many potatoes.

• We’ve also served over 2,000 Grabbers, which my mom has transported from the Washington State University Creamery to Washtucna to keep us stocked with this local treat.

• We’ve served roughly 17,000 guests, with many repeat customers in that accounting, of course.

• We’ve provided 13 locals with part-time employment, paying over $122,000 in wages.