Steve Tormala, owner of Curbside Bistro, welcomes customers for lunch, dinner and snack time. Sequim Gazette photo by Ashley Miller

Some people might say Steve Tormala is a workaholic.

Others might comment on his creative money-making ideas, which include selling game calls and custom knives and doing automobile detailing out of the home.

But mostly people are just raving about the food at Curbside Bistro, outside between the entrance and exit of The Home Depot.

"I love the food here," said one local customer, quickly finishing a hotdog before entering the store to shop.

"It’s my favorite place to eat lunch," she said, dabbing her mouth with a napkin and politely declining to give her name.

Curbside Bistro – an independent family owned business that’s not associated with the big box store whatsoever – sells Kuzina gyros, Nathan’s Famous gourmet-style hotdogs, premium sausages, Tim’s Cascade Chips, Seattle’s Best coffee and Thomas Kemper sodas.

Tormala owns and operates the food cart with his wife and "partner in crime," Kristina Tormala. Together, the couple serve food from 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. seven days a week. Though family and friends pitch in to help sometimes – such as when the Tormalas went on vacation for a week in July – the brunt of the work falls on Steve and Kristina’s shoulders.

"We’re getting a lot of good feedback," Steve Tormala said.

"We are careful about picking the products and keeping the prices down."

In the coming months, Curbside Bistro will introduce a Greek salad and hot links to the menu.

As winter approaches, the tent will be replaced with a heated building and a variety of soups, chowders, tea, coffee and cocoa will become available.

Curbside Bistro opened June 1 after several months of planning and negotiations with The Home Depot. According to Tormala,

The Home Depot has wanted to offer a food stand since opening in Sequim but hadn’t been able to reach an agreement with administration.

Now, as long as the food stand continues to generate enough revenue it will stay in business year-round. Tormala figures that as long as the business earns half of what it’s making during the summer months, it will survive winter.

"We’ll be skinny but all right," he predicted, eager to make Curbside Bistro a "fan favorite" in Sequim.

"We are pleased to be the first permanently located street food vending stand in Sequim and plan to be the best."

For more information or to call ahead for a large order, call 360-477-9373.