MARYSVILLE — After a year of turmoil, the restaurant at the Cedarcrest Golf Course has new life.

The city of Marysville, which owns the golf course and the restaurant building, spent the first half of 2009 in a dispute with the former restaurant owners, who leased the space from the city.

That disagreement was settled in July, former owners Pat and Kathy Regan left in November, and the restaurant was closed until the end of December.

That’s when it reopened under a new name, look and menu.

It’s been remodeled into a “contemporary casual” look, said career restaurateur Bob Thomas, the new owner. Like the Regans, he leases the space from the city.

“The colors are kind of earth-tone colors, lighter and darker that offset each other real well,” Thomas said.

The new menu features a variety of American dishes, including prime rib, nachos, hot wings, meatball sandwiches, grilled steak burritos, fajitas and chicken Alfredo. Thomas’s chef, Lew Johnson, was raised in Louisiana and is gradually introducing Cajun dishes into the menu, Thomas said. Dry-rub baby back ribs are the first, with pulled pork, etouffe and jambalaya to come, he said.

The bar is now separated from the remainder of the restaurant and features a 22-foot granite countertop.

“We wanted to turn it into some place that we could take our kids,” said Thomas, who lives about a half-mile from the restaurant.

Five large TVs are spread throughout the restaurant, including two behind the bar. There’s also a separate meeting room.

Thomas was one of a few who applied to the city to take over the restaurant, Mayor Dennis Kendall said. He’s owned and operated chain pizza restaurants and sports bars and opened the Applebee’s restaurant on 88th Street NE in Marysville, he said.

Thomas will pay $4,500 per month in rent to the city the first year, and additional rent based on gross income beginning next year, city finance director Sandy Langdon said. The city spent about $55,000 on the remodel, she said.

City administrator Mary Swenson said last year officials hoped the restaurant could bring in more money to help offset the city’s debt on the golf course buildings.

The Regans missed a deadline to renew their lease and the city tried to evict them. The Regans said they intended to renew and wanted to stay, and they took the city to court.

The city eventually paid the couple a $25,000 settlement and $30,000 in legal fees and allowed the couple to operate the restaurant rent-free from July to November.

The Regans are now operating the restaurant at the privately owned Gleneagle Golf Course in Arlington.

Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439, sheets@heraldnet.com.

Learn more

The Cedarcrest Grill is at 6180 84th St. NE, Marysville, at the Cedarcrest Golf Course. For more information, call 360-651-5514 or go to the Cedarcrest Grill site at Facebook.com.