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Age is a funny thing. You look forward to being older, then you start hiding your age, then you start glorifying your age. The Athenian Inn at Pike Place Market hits 100 this year and it’s heading into the glory years.

Photo: the Athenian's incredible view

Three Greek brothers started the Athenian as a bakery/lunch spot in 1909. In 1933, it was one of Seattle’s first restaurants to receive a beer license. Operating as a tavern for years, it was purchased by Bob and Louise Cromwell in 1964. Bob passed away in 2002; Louise still owns and runs the Inn. In early 2008, through friend Scott Rogel (a member of the family that owns Capitol Hill’s Deluxe Bar & Grill), she connected with Eddie Clark, formerly of Tiger Mountain Grill, hiring him as general manager. "Eddie is making things easy for me," says Louise. She drives in most days from Queen Anne where she’s lived for 47 years. Louise celebrated a landmark birthday herself this year, although we’re not at liberty to release the number. You’ll have to ask her.

Louise grew up in Tacoma. "It was quiet and you knew everyone and all the businesses," she recalls. Bob and Louise married and moved to Seattle. He decided he wanted to own a restaurant and attended the culinary program at what is now Seattle Central Community College. Louise worked for a lumber company with a breakfast/lunch spot in it. She thought that might be fun as they were closed nights and weekends.

Louise knew Bob was scouting out restaurants, but didn’t realize how seriously. He found a tavern at the Pike Market for sale in August of 1964. She said, you go look, I don’t want to own a tavern. Naturally, he thought it was great and bought it. "The owners wanted to stay through Labor Day," says Louise. "We came in, closed for two days, cleaned and opened." In what is now the main floor, there was a Chinese grill, the tavern and a jewelry shop (now across the aisle from the Inn, owned by the same family). They bought all three businesses out.

Louise kept her day job until 1975, working nights at the Athenian. "I came down every night after work to harass everyone," she laughs. "But I did the books at home. The Market was so jerry-built. In the beginning, we had the main room, but not the balcony. Offices were upstairs; you had to climb a ladder and the office was a platform without walls. I couldn’t do it. Bob did everything—he was the cook, bartender, janitor."

Pike Market went through a major remodel in 1978-79 after the City bought out the private owners. The Athenian closed for six months. That led to a second six-month closure and a third. "Bob had lots of time on his hands; that’s when the menu got so big," smiles Louise. The menu was two pages before 1978, then became an enormous fold-out monster. The huge amount of items has been a hallmark of the Inn. "We opened for Labor Day—almost like when we first bought it. Lots of kids came back to work even though they’d taken other jobs when we closed. Our main cook, Lucinda (Luce), has been here 40 years. She’s going to retire at the end of this year or maybe early 2010." Because of the large menu, it was hard to get cooks—too much to learn and produce. They had tons of freezer and walk-in space.

Photo above (l-r): Phil Spencer, Louise Cromwell, Eddie Clark with a menu size comparison

"Our prices on the old menu were too low," recalls Louise. "Luce said we had to rethink them even if it was only once or twice in 30 years. We were charging 10¢ for coffee at the counter. After Bob’s first stroke in 1968, my dad came in to help and said to raise it to 15¢. Bob was so mad. We had regulars and he didn’t want to raise their price. Later when we raised the price to 90¢, we had a staff member at the counter who said she wouldn’t charge it." One of the old menus shows their deluxe meal at 35¢ for soup, salad, bread, vegetable, potato, entrée, drink and dessert. In 1979, the weekday menu special was $2.95. On May 12, 2009, they unveiled their new menu which is much smaller and all fresh. Phil Spencer is now the kitchen manager. He went to culinary school in Canada and was the lead line cook at Troiani and Etta’s and cooked at Veil.

After Bob’s stroke, Louise had to step in. "The first day, we couldn’t even get the safe open because I didn’t know the combination," she says. "I had to borrow money from the bank to open the restaurant. I paid them back the next morning. Each day I went to work, lunched at the hospital with Bob, went back to work, then worked at the restaurant at night. My boss at the lumber company didn’t think anyone should take time off work, even on Saturdays. I’d stay up all night balancing the books. Now that Eddie has us computerized, what used to take me 24 hours happens in minutes."

Photo: Louise in her favorite spot

Bob rallied and although he couldn’t speak, was determined to get back to work. "He was only out a matter of weeks," marvels Louise. Eventually he got his speech back, but often said things backwards which could cause confusion. In 1975, Louise left her day job and began working "for real" at the restaurant. "After Bob’s second stroke, I really took over, learning by osmosis and relying on the kids who worked there," remembers Louise. After Bob died, she knew what needed to be done, but not how to do it. She turned to Scott and he brought Eddie in. "When I came in, it was just like 1964," laughs Eddie. "Everything was handwritten on pads and handed in to the kitchen. It’s taken awhile, but we’re now computerized and where we want to be with the new menu."

In addition to the menu, the website has been updated and a happy hour started with drink and food specials. What won’t change is the unpretentious and welcoming atmosphere. "People like it here because of its age and because it’s not like other places," says Louise. Just the way it should be.

Connie Adams/June 2009

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