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Having run Dawn’s Delectables Dessert & Sandwich Shoppe for more than a decade before closing it in March 2024 “to take a much-needed break and travel” and focus on her health, owner Dawn Merchant is now slowly working toward fully reopening her downtown Centralia staple eatery.
“It's so good to be back at the corner of Tower and Pine,” Merchant said on Dawn’s Delectables’ Facebook page. “Thank you so much for welcoming us back so warmly.”
While the “Coffee Corner” side is open serving drinks, select pastries and bagels, Merchant and her employees are still finishing up kitchen and dining room conversion work and staff training before once again serving the full lunch menu.
The Chronicle visited Dawn’s Delectables on Thursday, Aug. 21, to see if Merchant had a set date to fully reopen.
Although no day is officially set in stone, she hopes to once again be serving her famous sandwiches, soups, wraps and, of course, desserts, out of the Dessert & Sandwich Shoppe within the next couple of weeks.
However, those attending the Hub City Car Show this weekend on Saturday, Aug. 23, may get a lucky first taste of the sandwiches again.
“I’m gonna try to have some sandwiches and maybe a few other things to sell out the window (to the Pine Street Plaza) or in here at the counter,” Merchant said.
Dawn’s Delectables is reopening in the same space it occupied before closing in 2024 — 204 N. Tower Avenue, adjacent to the Pine Street Plaza.
The original announcement of Dawn’s Delectables’ return came last month a day after JJ’s ToGo, which operated out of the location, stated it was closing its brick-and-mortar restaurant. Prior to opening at Dawn’s Delectables’ old location last year, JJ’s ToGo was mobile and catering faced.
Merchant shepherded in JJ’s co-owners and sisters-in-law Jessica and Devin Britton following last year’s semi-retirement announcement.
While JJ’s ToGo saw initial success, controversy arose last November after the Brittons refused to cater to the wedding of a same-sex couple, Ryah Calkins and Lillian Glover, publicly citing their Christian religious beliefs on social media.
Prior to opening the physical location, JJ’s ToGo had been a local catering and mobile food business started after Devin asked Jessica to help her to meal prep lunches out of her Chehalis apartment in 2021.
JJ’s ToGo is not affiliated with JJ’s Mexican Sports Bar, also located in downtown Centralia at 537 N. Tower Ave. and owned by Lizeth Torrecillas Martinez and Juan Martinez Sr.
JJ’s Mexican Sports Bar is at the former location of Bub’s Pub Sports Bar & Grill, Joe’s Tavern and other drinking establishments dating back decades. The business’s name comes from a combination of Juan Sr.’s name along with his son, Juan Martinez Jr., as previously reported by The Chronicle.
