2 Tri-Cities restaurants close unexpectedly. Customers grieve the loss of favorite venues

Sunday will be the last chance for Tri-Cities area residents to eat at Foodies.

Owner Joanna Wilson posted on social media Saturday morning that the Kennewick location in Columbia Park has already permanently closed and that Sunday, Feb. 11, would be the last day for Foodies Too on the Parkway in Richland.

“... it’s time for me to leave the food & beverage service industry,” the post said.

Wilson asked that people give her and her staff their privacy as they deal with the restaurants’ closing.

“The past many years of Foodies locations have been more than I could have ever, expected or dreamed of,” she posted.

She made the announcement with “deep sorrow,” she posted and thanked the people who had watched and supported the growth of the Foodies businesses.

Over more than a decade Foodies had been a staple of the Tri-Cities with multiple ways it sold its classic American fare, Foodies catering, Floatin’ Foodies, Foodies Brick and Mortar, Foodies Too, Foodies on the Go and Foodies on the River.

On its menus were coco shrimp tacos, Po-Boy sandwiches, Texan burgers, four types of hotdogs and craft cocktails.

Within hours of Wilson posting that she was leaving the food business, more than 200 people had left messages on the post, wishing her well and lamenting the closing of Foodies.

“Nooo! I am so very sorry to see you go,” posted one customer. “Foodies is one of the best places to eat around here. Thanks for the years of great food and drinks.”

A long-time Tri-Cities resident thanked Foodies for its support of the community and of veterans.

“We loved your restaurant,” posted another customer. “Thank you for bringing smiles and happy tummy’s to the TCs. Good luck with your future plans.”

The closing is a huge loss to the Tri-Cities, posted another customer. “I’m heart broken for you and your staff because I know how much this means to everyone,” they said.

Customers said they would miss “the best fish tacos in town,” the “best carrot cake ever,” and the grilled sandwiches. One poster asked if she could buy the Foodies salsa recipe.

12 years of Tri-Cities Foodies

In 2012, the family of Foodies owner Joanna Wilson created “Floatin Foodies,” a food truck on the water. For three years it worked as a summer vendor on the Columbia and Snake rivers.

Next to open was the Foodies in downtown Kennewick, which opened as Floatin’ Foodies closed. That was followed by Foodies Too in downtown Kennewick, which opened in 2019. There also was a Foodies food truck.

Two years ago Foodies Brick and Mortar on Kennewick Avenue closed after smoke and water damage from a raging fire that gutted the downtown building next door.

The Kennewick Foodies reopened near the end of 2022 in the at the center of the Columbia Park Golf Triplex in space vacated by CG Public House and Catering.