Village, renowned for its housemade pies, returns to Marysville

Our mission was to buy a pie.

That’s what Marysville’s iconic Village restaurant, which burned down in February, meant to us as young people. Pie.

Now the restaurant has reopened as the Village Taphouse &Grill across the street in the former G.A. Maxwell log lodge. My husband and I had to check it out. And buy a pie.

We went for breakfast. A long day ahead calls for a hearty breakfast. And we got what we came for.

But not immediately. In all fairness, the restaurant’s ribbon cutting was Saturday, so evidently a few kinks were still being worked out between the cooks and the wait staff. (Word is that the restaurant was closed Monday so staff could make changes for better service.)

When we finally got our meal, we were pleased.

Jon ordered the country breakfast with a bunch of smoked bacon, hash browns, two eggs sunny-side up and a housemade biscuit for about $10. I had the chicken-fried (cube) steak, over-easy eggs, O’Brien potatoes (country style with onion and peppers added) with gravy on the side and a biscuit for about $12.

We shared the gravy, which was creamy and packed with sausage, but not too salty.

The biscuits are big, fluffy and flavorful. Add the fruit jelly and you have a dessert that’s great with coffee.

The breakfast fare at the new Village is pretty standard, and includes French toast, pancakes, Benedict, omelets, etc. We read on the restaurant website that there was to be a porkbelly hash on the menu, but it wasn’t available.

We like Village’s new beautiful building, with its high ceilings, big windows, all new furniture and a view on one side of the Marysville Opera House and Three Fingers mountain behind it.

The place looks much better than it did when it was Maxwell’s or even the restaurant that was there originally — a name we could not remember.

What we do remember is the legacy of Village, which dates back to 1937 when it was a simple pie stand on old Highway 99. Its reputation grew over the years, and improved after Village pies were served at the Century 21 Exposition — the 1962 world’s fair in Seattle.

Jon and I figure we were customers most often in the 1970s and ’80s, a heyday period.

Alicia Adamson bought the restaurant in 2010, and her sister, Christina Adamson, moved her bar, the Wild Hare, into the lounge area of the restaurant in 2016. Things were going well.

Then on Feb. 19, a two-alarm fire destroyed the restaurant. No one was hurt. The cause of the fire remains officially undetermined, according to the Marysville Fire Department, but the Adamsons said it most likely had to do with some faulty equipment.

A few months after the fire, the Adamson sisters were offered a 10-year lease with an option to buy the former Maxwell’s on the other side of Third Street. The owners of the log building were in the process of remodeling it anyway. And it had a kitchen that allowed for lots of pie baking.

The Taproom &Grill has 24 beers on tap. The dinner menu, which includes most of the old favorites, is in the process of becoming a bit more upscale.

And the music is back. A longtime favorite, the Michelle Taylor Band, performed for Village’s opening night celebration. This coming weekend, you can hear the Moon Daddy Band on July 1. Tuesday through Thursday nights feature karaoke.

If you plan to buy a whole pie, reserve it when you check in with the hostess for a meal. Lots of people do this and you should, too, in order to get the pie you want. You can also special order a pie for pickup later.

Village pies include apple, French apple, blackberry, blueberry, berry blast and bumbleberry (berry combos), cherry, cherry cheesecake, plain cheesecake, banana cream, chocolate cream, coconut cream, lemon cream, peach, pecan, pumpkin, peanut butter, peanut butter banana, raspberry rhubarb, rhubarb, strawberry rhubarb and sugar-free apple and blackberry.

We got the blackberry, for just under $14.

The berry filling had just the right balance of tart and sweet, and the buttery crust was almost like shortbread.

Village has returned.

Village Taphouse &Grill

1204 Third St., Marysville; 360-659-2305; www.facebook.com/VillageMarysville.

Hours are 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Bar hours are noon to midnight on Sunday and Monday, and noon to 2 a.m. Tuesday through Saturday.