Sykes' Restaurant closes doors once more

Sykes’ Restaurant, a historic Kalispell landmark and favorite meeting place for senior citizens, closes Friday with a party scheduled from 1 to 3 p.m.

“We’re going out with a bang,” Dodie Wise said.

Wise, daughter-in-law of the property’s owners, Doug and Judy Wise, and her daughter Savannah rented the restaurant and opened in mid-December 2009 for breakfast and lunch Monday through Friday.

Wise said some family concerns were the reason they need to close.

She said the town has supported their efforts to keep the doors open. Many seniors come daily to socialize with each other while drinking coffee for 25 cents a cup and eating the moderately priced meals.

“We’ve been really lucky,” she said. “I want to tell the community thank you for their friendship and support.”

Wise invited people to come on Friday to hear the restaurant’s long-time country band perform at the farewell party. She said she expects a lot of tears as the doors close again at the location that first opened as a grocery store in 1905 at Second Avenue and Second Street West in Kalispell.

Doug Wise bought the store in 1945 when it was just 25 feet wide and still had a wood stove and a crank cash register. Wise and his wife Judy expanded the business over the years to include the restaurant and a pharmacy that continues in business.

The property remains for sale. Tom Thomas of Realty Executives has the property listed for $750,000, which includes eight city lots.

“It’s been reduced considerably,” he said. “The building has a number of rentals. It has a barbershop, a daycare center, a pharmacy and four apartments.”

Thomas said he has had a number of people interested in the property, but the problem is obtaining commercial financing. He said banks these days want buyers to come up with 30 to 40 percent of the purchase price.

“They’ve made it extremely tough,” he said.

The property, including a grocery store and restaurant, was sold once in October 2008 to Mike McFarland, the real estate broker who had the property listed. He and his wife converted the grocery store to a convenience store, invested in building upgrades and continued to run the restaurant until August 2009 when financial considerations forced him to close.

Dodie Wise and her daughter stepped in with a few employees, themselves and some volunteers to fill the void in mid-December.

She called it a “seat-of-the pants” operation at the time, saying she planned only to run the restaurant until the property sold. 

 Wise said she would love someone with the money to buy the property and turn it into a senior center. During the seven months that she and her daughter operated the restaurant, Doug Wise, who’s almost 93, has continued to come in most mornings and open the restaurant.

He remains in good health after making a full recovery from some surgery.

“He’s our John Wayne,” Wise said with a laugh. “No matter how many times he gets shot, he gets back up.”

She said they both feel sad about having to close down the operation because the elderly customers enjoy the restaurant and have become their friends.

“It’s a bummer,” she said. “We’re going to miss them.”

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com