Cliff Filibeck sells restaurant he loved so much
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Kristi O’Harran Herald Columnist |
Cliff Filibeck doesn’t need to catch the 4:40 a.m. Mukilteo ferry anymore to get to work. In September, he sold Filibeck’s Chuckwagon Inn at 6720 Evergreen Way in Everett. Old habits are hard to break. Filibeck, 75, gets out of his cozy bed in Clinton on Whidbey Island at 4:30 a.m. these days, but not to rush to early bird activities.
On the contrary, Filibeck is still looking for his retirement niche.
"You can only do so much around the house," he said. "I’m bored."
Cliff Filibeck worked days at the restaurant while his wife, Joy, worked the night shift. The commute was worth it to live on Whidbey Island, Cliff said. He bought the restaurant in 1973 from Bud and Louise Ricketts after learning the business at a Spokane steakhouse following infantry service in World War II. Before owning the Chuckwagon, he managed the American Legion and Everett Elks.
He must have known everyone in town.
"I knew an awful lot of them," Filibeck said. "I’ve lost a lot of them, old friends and customers."
Harriet Brossard, 96, of Everett, was a regular weekend breakfast customer at the Chuckwagon Inn.
"I had my favorite omelet," Brossard said. "Everyone there was so nice. If they weren’t sociable, you wouldn’t go back, would you?"
Joy said Cliff always went beyond the call of duty for his customers and staff. She said when one employee, a single mother, fell on hard times, Cliff bought her a $500 truck that was parked out in front of the restaurant. He asked her to repay him at $10 per week from her paycheck.
"That Christmas, she served Cliff lunch and he gave her a $100 tip," Joy said. "That’s what Cliff was all about."
Another time, an employee was hospitalized and needed to recuperate. The Filibecks invited him to stay at their home until he mended.
Joy retired about five years ago from working at the restaurant. Their morning waitress, Marian Foredyce, was recently voted favorite waitress in Snohomish and Island counties in a Herald poll. Foredyce said the best parts of her job were the owners and customers. She has worked at the restaurant for 29 years and likes the friendly atmosphere. Foredyce is staying on at the new Patty’s Eggnest.
"I didn’t like it when I heard he was selling," Foredyce said. "Cliff has been like my second dad."
She said she hopes he enjoys his retirement. So far, Cliff misses the daily work grind.
"I drop by the restaurant about once a week," he said. "I’m involved with the Whidbey Eagles. Other than that, I’m looking for something to do."
Cliff said he will probably get a job. He said if he works for someone else, he won’t miss meeting bureaucratic rules placed on small businesses. But he will miss Chuckwagon fresh fish and chips.
"We made our own salad dressing, desserts and soups," he said. "We had a basic menu that didn’t change much through the years."
That’s why customers liked to come back again and again to eat their favorite selections.
"We were a neighborhood place," he said. "We had loyal customers."
His daughter, Lisa Vaughn, who lives in Arlington, said as a child, the restaurant was a playground for her and sisters Julie Fulton of Everett and Carmel Wakeman of Mountlake Terrace.
"I spent so many years there," she said. "I helped him do office work so he could have days off. I filled in wherever he needed me."
Vaughn said her father will probably find something to do in the restaurant line. Once it’s in your blood, it stays there forever, she added.
If you hire Cliff Filibeck, give him the early shift.
Kristi O’Harran’s Column appears Tuesdays and Fridays. If you have an idea for her, call 425-339-3451 or e-mail oharran@heraldnet.com.
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