Everett eatery Marimba survives in tough times

EVERETT — Though many restaurants along Hewitt Avenue have closed in recent years, Marimba continues serving Latin food, music and salsa lessons to its loyal customers.

Owner Pedro Guadamud has listed the restaurant on the market, but only because he believes he is ready to move on.

"My friends always told me, 'Oh, why don't you open a restaurant, you know how to cook.' And I decided to open it, you know? And now I'm retired," he said.

Guadamud opened Marimba almost three years ago after studying business administration and learning English at Everett Community College. Since then, he said four other restaurants on the street have closed up shop.

"But I survived," he said.

The restaurant industry, the largest employer in Washington state, has lost more than 15,000 employees since April 2008, said Camille St. Onge, director of communications for the Washington Restaurant Association.

Dennis Wagner, Guadamud's real estate broker, said Everett restaurants are suffering as much as any other town.

"You're seeing more and more spaces available that are sitting there," he said. "And people are retiring, closing down shop. We're in the middle of this problem."

Guadamud put Marimba on the market recently, but admitted he's not trying too hard to sell. If there are no takers, he said, he will keep Marimba open at its current location, 1405 Hewitt Ave.

"If I sell it, it's OK," he said. "If I don't sell it, it's fine for me. I'm still making money."

Marimba is home to South American cuisine, music and artwork from Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela and other countries. One thing it lacks, Guadamud said, is Mexican.

"I love Mexican," he said. "The only reason (I don't serve it) is because (if) you want to find a Mexican restaurant, it's easy for you to find, everywhere."

Guadamud said there are seven Mexican eateries to be found in the six blocks between Rucker Avenue and Broadway. He said customers have thanked him for opening a restaurant where they can escape culinary monotony.

"Whatever Mexican restaurant you use, you know you're gonna find tacos, burritos, enchiladas," he said. "Everybody's menu is kind of similar."

Besides Latin food and music, Marimba offers salsa lessons every night of the week.

"Because of my work I had a business lunch at Marimba one day," said salsa instructor Wendy Messarina Volosin, who teaches there Friday nights. "I liked it."

"They come in and move the tables to the back, they practice," Guadamud said. "The customers, they look in, they say, 'Wow, I want to try this.'"

But first, Guadamud said, he had to purchase a dancing license.

"When I started doing dancing, the police came here and said, 'where is your license?'" Guadamud said. "I didn't know I needed to have a license to dance."

"They said, 'You cannot make any more parties. We see you making more parties here, we close your business.'"

Marimba is also licensed for alcohol, but Guadamud said it would be too expensive to install a lounge, no matter how badly his friends want him to.

"If I don't sell my restaurant in this year, probably I will make a bar," he said. "But not right now."

Wagner, who has worked in Everett real estate for 15 years, said the commercial real estate market is just as struggling as the residential housing market in these times.

"Generally, the business is not as red hot as it used to be," he said. "There is less activity. A lot of people are suffering through this recession."

If Marimba does find a buyer, Guadamud said, he wants to move to China to import and sell electronics. He admits it is totally different from owning a restaurant, but that is what he did in his native Ecuador before moving to Everett six years ago.

"I opened the restaurant just because I was taking a break, trying something different," he said.