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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
December 29, 2016     Shelton Mason County Journal
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December 29, 2016
 
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Page A-6 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Thursday, Dec. 29, 2016 t Z E E'5" E II HI Available at Off the Walls in Shelton (703 W. Railroad) and Boom Gallery in Olympia (520 Adams St. SE) LindaRudinFrizzell.com Dave and Wendy Blain have owned and Shelton for 39 years. The Blains retired new owners. After nearly 4O years, Roosters Restaurant has been sold to new owners By BRIANNA LOPER brianna@masoncounty, com Dave Blain doesn't hesitate when talking about the best part of running a restaurant -- it's the people. "We've had hundreds and hundreds of employees over the years, and they do kind of become like family," said Blain. "These are my kids." Blain, 70, has owned and oper- ated Roosters Restaurant, originally Burgermaster, at 3001 Olympic High- way N. in Shelton with his wife, Wen- dy, for 39 years. The couple sold the eatery and attached gas station Dec. 13, planning to start the new year as retirees. A new couple, Rohit and Kiran Chawla, will take over the business. Blain started cooking at a Burger- master, a hamburger restaurant chain, in the 1960s. At the time, a friend who owned the land Roosters sits on wanted Blain to open a Burgermaster in Shel- ton. "He talked to me for a number of years, but I was not very receptive," Blain said. However, in 1977, Blain was finally convinced. He began build- ing in the winter and opened a Burger- master in June 1978. "We just became part of the commu- nity," Blain said. "We raised our kids here, we have our regulars that come in every day .... My wife worked here, my daughter worked here, my son worked here. Now my granddaughter works here. She's 22; she was born and raised in this." Roosters has always been a fam- ily operation, Blain said. Even those who weren't related by blood became part of the family. The restaurant was called Burgermaster until the original Burgermaster owner died eight years ago. At that time, Blain decided to change the name to distinguish himself from the Burgermaster chain stores. The new name, Roosters, came from a coffee cup his wife was drinking out of with a picture of a rooster on it. The chicken and rooster memora- bilia that covers the store was easy to find, Blain said. Customers brought in most of it. Photo courtesy of Dave Blain operated Roosters Restaurant in this month, selling the business to "They just like to see their stuff put up here," Blain said. Blain said he's watched past em- ployees and regular customers grow up, have families of their own and con- tinue coming to the restaurant. He even has past employees that no longer live in the country, but still pop in every couple years to have lunch with Blain. Blain said consistency has always been his biggest priority. "The biggest challenge is trying to keep the same quality of service," Blain said. "If a customer comes in, they should get the same thing every time. They like their fries a certain way or the tartar sauce, so that's what they expect." Blain said the restaurant did its re- search whenever it added a new item to the menu. When Blain needed a new orange juice brand, he ordered six types and had employees blind taste- test each to determine what the restau- rant would sell. Tropicana-brand juice won, so the restaurant still serves it. "The customer depends on that," Blain said. "I've made the same tartar sauce for 50 years. That's my trade- mark. The customer depends on it." Blain said the new owners have the same attention to detail. For the past three weeks, Blain has been working with the Chawlas, passing on as much information as he can to help them con- tinue Roosters' legacy. "Nothing should change at all," he said. Blain said besides closing on Thanksgiving and Christmas day each year, the restaurant has never closed. When the Blains added the Shell gas station and convenience store in the front of the business, customers went through the back door. When the own- ers built additional seating, customers walked through a hole in the wall to get to the window seats until Blain added a doorway. The Blains don't have plans for re- tirement yet, but the former owner suspects he and his wife will probably travel for a while. He plans to come back to Roosters whenever he can to get a bite to eat. Blain said he's looking forward to not having something to do daily, but he's not sure what itll be like to be a customer in Roosters. "I think itll always be hard," he said. "I've always been in the restaurant business. I started cooking in 1964."