Enclosed in a striking stone interior, Tenino's Sandstone Cafe is a popular meeting spot for locals and travelers alike.
If you’re out for a drive down Old Highway 99, hoping to take in some beautiful fall colors, stop for breakfast at The Sandstone Cafe in Tenino, a business that recently celebrated 11 years under the mother-and-daughter ownership team of Cheryl and Sandra Pearce.
The cafe at one time served dinner, but now focuses on breakfast and lunch, and is known for its weekend specials. And some of those specials are so special that they’ve become fixtures on the regular menu.
Among them: French toast stuffed with apple cobbler or pumpkin cream cheese, apples and pears.
If you’re kicking yourself for having missed those, fret not. French toast stuffed with strawberries and cream cheese is a regular item on the menu, as is the bacon and feta omelet. The bacon, tomato and avocado sandwich is a lunch fixture, while the Pearce’s are set to release the Scatter Creek melt on Nov. 1. It’s a burger served on grilled sourdough, with mushrooms, provolone and freshly grated Parmesan.
Or maybe you want something more traditional: The biscuits and gravy is made with homemade gravy.
After all this, you might be wondering: Who are these people?
After a long career as a manager at the Hawks Prairie Inn in Lacey, Cheryl left the business for the real estate industry. It was during that time that she learned of an existing restaurant that was for sale. Her daughter, Sandra, encouraged her to buy it, telling her mother she would run it.
And that’s exactly what happened, except they didn’t dive in too deeply at first, wanting to learn more about the Tenino community before making too radical a change to the business. But eventually they made changes to the interior and menu.
“I found out I had a creative side,” said Cheryl Pearce.
The biggest change, though, was the decision to eliminate dinner service. But it ultimately became too much work, so they focused on breakfast and lunch and doubled their revenue in the process, she said.
Sandra worked at the business full-time for about three years. Then she became a mom, went back to school and is now in the middle of a post-bachelor’s degree internship in nutrition and dietetics. The internship began at Mason General Hospital and now she’s at Olympia High School.
Sandra said she and her mother still make decisions about the business together and she still handles the social media side of things for the cafe.
She called Tenino a “wonderful, special community.”
“They embraced us and we’ve been able to give back,” she said.
{{tncms-inline content="<p><strong>Owners:</strong> Cheryl and Sandra Pearce</p> <p><strong>Location:</strong> 273 W. Sussex Tenino</p> <p><strong>Employees:</strong> 7.</p> <p><strong>Online:</strong> Facebook.</p> <p><strong>Hours:</strong> The business is open seven days a week at 6:30 a.m. for coffee, followed by 7 a.m. for breakfast. It closes at 2 p.m. during the week and at 2:30 p.m. weekends.</p>" id="52300038-be79-4b09-83d9-54cac4592108" style-type="info" title="THE SANDSTONE CAFE" type="relcontent"}}
