Tony Andrews leaves Tony’s Just A Bite after nearly 40 years of owning restaurants in Blaine

After nearly 40 years of serving loyal customers, Tony Andrews bid farewell to Blaine and Tony’s Just A Bite on October 31.

“I think Blaine is the best place in Washington state and I’m going to miss it very much,” Andrews said. “The people here are fantastic. Not everybody thinks I’m fantastic, but I think they are.”

Andrews, 71, said he decided to pass on the restaurant after his wife’s medical issues required them to relocate and he found the right person to take over. That person was Monte Landucci, a former cook for Black Forest Steakhouse, Peace Arch City Café and Big Al’s Diner.

“He’s got a nice personality and you need to have a nice personality,” Andrews said of Landucci. “You’ve got to be likable because people like to do business with people they like.”

The eatery won’t change too much in the beginning, Andrews said. The name will shift to Monte’s Just A Bite, to keep the Andrews’ family tradition that started in 1939 with Andrews’ uncle’s restaurant, Just A Bite.

Landucci is excited about one new addition starting December 1: A 1-lb burger called the M.O.A.B., or the Mother of All Burgers. “It’s going to happen,” Landucci said. “We’re going to make it work.”

Andrews is a purebred restaurateur, growing up with uncles on both sides of his family owning restaurants in Pennsylvania and Chicago.

“When I was about 4 years old, I remember sitting at a horseshoe counter on a stool with my 85-year-old grandfather who I was named after,” he said. “We both sat on the horseshoe counter and folded pie boxes. I was too young and he was too old to do anything other than fold pie boxes.”

Andrews grew up working in his family’s restaurants before joining the U.S. Army in 1970, where he was stationed at McChord Field Air Force base in Tacoma. After being discharged, Andrews ran two rented downtown Portland restaurants before moving to Blaine, where he saw an opportunity to own his restaurant property.

In 1982, Andrews built the restaurant where Chada Thai is now and called it Tony’s Sandwich Shop. A few years later, he brought the red caboose to Blaine, which now houses The Railway Café, and put the Great Northern Buffalo Gifts store in it. Andrews went on to run over 10 restaurants in Blaine, Bellingham, Mount Vernon and Ferndale, eventually opening Tony’s Just A Bite in 2006.

“It’s a joy for me to do what I’m doing. It’s nice that I get to go to work to visit my friends because that’s exactly what it feels like,” Andrews said of working at Tony’s Just A Bite. “I know everybody’s names, I know their habits and I know what they want. I tell them, ‘Are you going to have the usual?’”

Andrews will stay in Blaine as his family sells their house and decides where the next adventure will take them, likely Arizona or Texas. Monte’s Just A Bite will change its number and Andrews will still be able to be reached by the old restaurant’s number, 360/332-8669.

Four decades of business on Peace Portal Drive remain engrained in Andrews, from residents helping him open his first Blaine restaurant to dedicating every Thursday to celebrate the service of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and police officers.

As for Andrews’ last words to customers, he says, “Just like Bob Hope, ‘Thanks for the memories.’ The memories are something nobody can take away.”