Valley Buffet owner Toni Vrettas along with cook Steve Aliff are ready to greet patrons of the new restaurant in downtown Zillah. Rosemary Dellinger photo

By ROSEMARY DELLINGER

Valley Buffet is Zillah’s newest eatery. The breakfast and lunch buffet opened on Dec. 9. 

Toni Vrettas, a resident of Zillah since March is operating the new restaurant in downtown Zillah in the former Doc’s Pizza building. 

“We’re really excited,” Vrettas said about her newest business venture at 507 First Ave.

Steve Aliff, a longtime Zillah resident with more than 25 years of cooking experience is Valley Buffet’s cook. Local wait staff includes Heather Collins and Trudy Goodson.

Vrettas has been a registered nurse for 28 years, but said she has always had another business besides her nursing career. 

“I worked my way through nursing school working as a waitress,” she said.

Originally from Oregon, Vrettas grew up in Roseburg and lived in Portland for the past 17 years before coming to Zillah last spring. 

She will continue to work in the recovery room at Yakima Memorial Hospital, but is excited to eventually retire from nursing and spend her retirement at the restaurant

The $6.99 all-you-can-east breakfast buffet features scrambled eggs both with and without meat. There will also be another egg entrée each day plus bacon, sausage, Aliff’s famous biscuits and gravy and either French toast or waffles. 

The lunch buffet is $7.99, with a main meat entrée each day along with soup, salad and vegetables. 

Monday’s is pasta day with spaghetti, chicken fettuccini and macaroni and cheese; Tuesday’s entrees are Swiss steak and beef stroganoff; Wednesday’s main entrée is chicken – fried, barbeque or chicken strips; Thursday’s lunch menu is a burger and hot dog bar and Friday’s seafood menu includes fried fish, baked fish, popcorn shrimp and clam strips. 

Beverages are extra, but modest at the Valley Buffet. Coffee, tea or sodas are a dollar with refills free. Juice and milk are also available. 

According to Vrettas, they planned a “quiet opening,” to work the kinks out, but the word got out around the Zillah community and they had between 35 and 40 people for their opening day lunch.

“So far, it has been a great response with lots of good comments, she said. “People are coming back.”

Valley Buffet hours are daily from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. The restaurant has seating for 34. Customers need to use the walk-up ramp entrance on the west side of the building while final changes are made to the building’s street front entrance. 

Customers can place orders-to-go by calling the Valley Buffet at (509) 829-6092.