Popular Tri-Cities family restaurant closed for the coronavirus shutdown. Now it’s permanent

Longtime Northwest eatery Cousins’ Restaurant in Pasco will not be reopening when COVID-19 restrictions for restaurants in Washington state are lifted.

“We have made the difficult decision to close our Pasco location,” the owners posted on its Facebook page Friday,

“Our company and family of employees truly values the relationships we’ve developed over the years, and will miss being part of the community here,” said the post.

The restaurant next to TRAC on Road 68 opened in late 2006, and is owned by the Escape Lodging brand of hotels, which also built The Lodge at Columbia Point.

The restaurant closed March 25 in response to the new coronavirus pandemic, saying then that the closure was temporary.

Cousins’ did not immediately responded to a request for information about the decision.

However, a real estate listing shows that the building and land that the restaurant occupies is for sale and under contract with a sale price of $2.5 million.

The restaurant’s original location in The Dalles, Ore., remains open.

Customers of the Pasco restaurant were posting comments online Friday about what they would miss, including the cinnamon rolls and its “famous beans.”

One woman wrote that it was where she first told the man who would become her husband that she loved him.

“I spelled it out in the dominoes you guys had on the tables,” she said.

Another remembered staff helping her mother in and out of the car during visits after she became ill.

“The last day she was alive she wanted your biscuits and gravy and it was literally her last meal,” the woman’s daughter posted.

Others were posting well wishes for the staff.

“So heartbreaking for all the long time staff,” one customer posted. “Thank you for the great memories of breakfasts with our families. You will truly be missed.”

This story was originally published May 8, 2020 at 12:16 PM.