Marion Manzer, the owner of the Centerville Cafe, brings out breakfast on Thursday afternoon at her restaurant in downtown Centralia.
The Centerville Cafe recently expanded into the storefront to the south of its location on Tower Avenue in downtown Centralia.
The Centerville is located at 111 N. Tower Avenue in downtown Centralia.
The Broncho and the Rueben sit on the countertop at the Centerville Cafe as George Higby and his mother, Marion Manzer, who owns the restaurant, laugh in the background on Thursday afternoon in downtown Centralia.
Marion Manzer, right, owner of the Centerville Cafe, prepares a pair of breakfast orders as a waitress cleans dishes in the kitchen on Thursday afternoon at the downtown Centralia restaurant.
Minced ham and eggs with hash browns and wheat toast at the Centerville Cafe on Thursday in Centralia.
Customers order lunch at the countertop of the Centerville Cafe on Thursday afternoon in Centralia.
More than four decades ago, a teenage Marion Manzer started out in the restaurant business, washing dishes before working her way up to basic food prep.
“One thing led to another and I was working on a grill at a Howard Johnson in New Jersey,” Manzer said.
Today, Manzer is the matriarch of two family restaurants in Lewis County, The Restaurant at Sunbirds in Chehalis and The Centerville Cafe in Centralia. She still does it all, from running the grill, like she did Thursday, to waiting tables and even washing dishes.
“We’re doing great,” Manzer said. “I can not complain one little bit. We love it. We absolutely love it.”
The Centerville Cafe is a hot spot for people who like to socialize over a rib-sticking breakfast or lunch.
“We have our steady Freddys who come in every day, “Manzer said. “You can almost look at the clock and tell who’s coming through the door.”
Many order the same thing time after time, she said.
The Centerville Cafe is open for breakfast and lunch, from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., though they’re considering opening for an early dinner a few nights a week.
“We put out a heck of a breakfast,” she said, noting its reasonable price. “We don’t charge a ton for our eats at all.”
They offer a wide variety of breakfast and lunch favorites, including a biscuits and gravy plate, omelettes and a reuben sandwich.
“We’ll make any omelet anybody wants. If we want the ingredients I can put it together,” Manzer said.
Recently, business partner Morris Gall and a regular at the restaurant worked to knock down part of a wall separating the restaurant from another business space next door, giving the cafe lots of extra seating.
Manzer said the cafe’s friendly and personalized atmosphere sets it apart from other breakfast and lunch joints.
“We know people’s names,” she said.
Manzer said all of the staff, most of whom are close family, work hard to remember the names and faces of everyone who comes through the door.
Socializing with her regulars and newcomers alike is part of the fun for Manzer and family.
“I am a social butterfly,” she said.
Though Manzer will turn 64 next year, she’s not contemplating hanging up her apron any time soon.
“I will probably die face down on my grill,” she said. “What would I do if I retired?”
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Natalie Johnson can be reached at (360) 807-8235
