Rumrunners owners Michael and Ashley Diaz stand in for a portrait inside their pub in Chehalis on Monday. The recently-married couple opened Rumrunners in the space formerly occupied by the Devilfish Pub, with the first customers walking through the doors Monday.
Ashley Diaz was faced with a difficult choice: honeymooning with her husband Michael in Thailand or opening the couple’s first business.
She chose the latter — and the fruit of the Olympia couple’s effort opened Monday in Chehalis in space that will look familiar to many.
“I’ve always had a dream of opening a bar,” Ashley Diaz, 25, said. “I wanted it to be a country bar, but I like the way this is going.”
Diaz is referring to RumRunners, a pub and restaurant that opened Monday in space on Chehalis Avenue formerly occupied by the Devilfish. The nautical theme of the former restaurant is intact, but with a twist: The pub pays homage to Canadian rum runner Johnny Schnarr, who visited Chehalis and several other communities during the Prohibition era, supplying a thirst for liquor that didn’t wane despite a national law banning alcoholic beverages in the 1920s.
“The agreement with the lease was to stick with the nautical theme,” Michael Diaz, 29, said. “The building has so much character, so we decided to kind of name it after a guy who delivered alcohol during prohibition.”
Staffed with a crew of 14, RumRunners offers a variety of food and drink, including a take-out menu that allows people to call orders in with. The pub held a soft opening Monday, with a few customers stopping in to take in the sights, order a cold one and enjoy some conversation with the staff.
“We’re still working on a lot of stuff,” Michael said. “We’ve got a lot of stuff to do like putting in a pool table and foosball table. We’re getting there.”
The opening of the Diazes’ first business venture comes just two days after the couple wed. Michael shared the story of how the couple decided to hold their reception in the building, a celebration of sorts for the couple’s new lives together that has accelerated into overdrive.
“We’ve been here so many nights until 2 a.m. getting everything ready, then we’ll come back in at 8 the next morning,” Michael said. “It’s been exhausting, but worth it.”
Michael Diaz even has a whimsical idea to further market the business: He plans on asking the city of Chehalis for permission to have a local artist’s version of the front section of a ship adorning the front of the building.
“I think it would look awesome,” Diaz said with a chuckle.
The opening of the new pub fills a void left when the Devilfish closed without reason last July. Several of the restaurant’s fixtures were left behind, such as tables and a rudder that overlooks the bar. The Diaz’s have since added new seating and tables in addition to what remained, and even rebuilt the fire pit that was at the time unique to the Devilfish.
Michael and Ashley Diazes said they hope to wash away any remaining sour taste from the experience of the Devilfish’s abrupt closure, hoping that a camaraderie among staff members extends to all who walk in.
“We tell all our employees that we’re a family because we’re around each other so much and we all get along well,” Ashley said.
The couple has set Rumrunners’ hours as follows: from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, then 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday. Kids are welcome until 9 p.m., and the staff at the restaurant are working on a kids’ menu.
Food offerings range from a variety of under-$10 specials to crab legs for about $35, Michael said, in an effort to cater to a variety of desires from hungry patrons. When it comes to alcoholic offerings, the pub will offer two signature drinks: the Rumrunner and Johnny’s Special, both in homage to the afore-mentioned Schnarr, who used speedy boats to elude those who tried to catch him.
So why did a newly-married couple from Olympia choose to open their very first business in Chehalis? Ashley Diaz said their decision was simple once they walked into the doors of the building for the first time.
“We noticed how close-knit the area is here. There’s a huge sense of community,” Ashley said. “It just felt right.”
And as for whether the decision to open the business was ultimately the right call over a trip to Thailand — if early returns are an indication, the couple wouldn’t change a thing.
“People have told us they’re so excited for us to be here,” Ashley said. “That alone has made it so worth it.”
