First opened in December of 1993, Ely’s Café at 206 N. Sequim Ave. has been a mainstay for a loyal group of customers, some of whom have been enjoying her food and company for nearly 30 years.
These days, an expansive menu of Chinese, Szechwan, Vietnamese and American dishes, prepared with care from fresh ingredients, has been whittled down to a breakfast menu with weekly specials, as Ely Green awaits a buyer for her business.
She’s ready to take care of her house, cook for friends at home and to travel extensively.
Ely’s Café is spoken of by customers as a place for leisurely meals, excellent food and opportunities for good conversation.
“We’ve been coming for 10 or 12 years,” said Randi Cooper, about herself and husband Bobby.
“We come for her food, and she’s always a positive person. [She’s] always smiling. It’s always a joy to go there.”
Cooper said that they especially enjoy the vegetable curry, which is still available, the wontons and “her beef broth soup was so good — we used to go there all the time for that.”
She said that the couple also “liked her waffles, which were the thinner kind. I don’t like the thicker kind; the thinner ones are harder to find these days.
“Most of the time she remembers what you ordered,” said Cooper, adding that Green fixes the meal fresh each time.
“We truly enjoy the food,” said Wende Ang, speaking for herself and Robert Elfant.
“Ely is definitely very friendly. We moved here in 2019; we have become a regular here … Ely has become a friend. The food is like eating at home. It’s a family meal and truly a family restaurant.”
Added Ang, “Let’s hope that who buys this place keeps the food the tradition. Or maybe it will be different. Nobody will know the future, but it’s always a hope.”
Green said that she hopes the buyer of her cafe will be someone who cooks from scratch, like herself.
“I want somebody who can make food from scratch,” she said. “That way is more healthy. Here, the people need healthy food, because all the people are retired. They need good food.”
Green herself kept up tradition when she bought the business upon her husband’s retirement from Bangor. The previous business, Son’s Café, served Vietnamese food and American breakfasts. She said the owner had “a very good reputation” and passed on recipes to her.
Sequim Gazette photo by Emily Matthiessen / Ely Green has run her cafe on Sequim Avenue for 30 years.
Green used some of the recipes with a few changes and added to the menu, “Chinese food, because I am Chinese and can make awesome Chinese food.”
Girlhood, world traveling and the ‘best place in the world’
Green grew up in Taiwan learning to cook from her mother, who “was a real good cook.”
“I loved to help my mom cook,” she said. “That’s why I know all the details.”
Green’s mother had a small restaurant where she served “Chinese breakfast.” Green’s siblings helped, too.
These days, she cooks for her mother – still alive and well at 92 – when she visits Taiwan.
Green said she wants to continue living in Sequim, which she called “the best place in the world,” but visit her Taiwanese family, which is very large, more often.
She also wants to visit family in China and go other places, like Europe, where she has not yet been.
Green said she’s always loved travel. She was living in Okinawa when she met her husband in 1978 and also lived in Guam and the Philippines. Because her husband was in the Navy, she was able to live in other parts of the U.S. as well, but when she saw Sequim, “it was so beautiful.
“I said, ‘oh I want to retire here’ … There is no place like here.”
When Green was in the second year of running her cafe, she bought the entire building, which she said is very long.
“I walk a lot,” she laughed. “I don’t mind. Walking is good for you.”
These days, the second business space in Green’s building is divided in half, between Nutritious Movement Center Northwest and Sequim Ballet, both of which Green praised. When she bought the building there was a printing shop there, and later an art gallery.
In 2010 Green turned that space into an Asian market, run by her daughter. Upon her daughter’s passing in 2020, she closed the market.
“She’s had her trials and tribulations through the years and she’s hung right in there,” said Cooper. “She’s always pleasant. It’s always a joy to go there. She’s an amazing person and very humble.
“We have a lot of good people here in Sequim,” continued Cooper.
“Silent people who do good things; she’s one of those people. The people who are doing good things in the community, those are the people we keep in mind.”
Ely’s Cafe
Location: 206 N. Sequim Ave.
Hours: 8 a.m.-2:30 p.m., Tuesday-Saturday
Phone: 360-683-2121
Sequim Gazette photo by Emily Matthiessen / Ely Green has run her cafe on Sequim Avenue for 30 years.
Sequim Gazette photo by Emily Matthiessen Ely Green has run her cafe on North Sequim Avenue for 30 years and is now looking to sell to a new owner that will make nourishing meals from scratch for the community.
