Iconic Redmond restaurant closing after 29 years

Sully’s Italian Restaurant has been a part of Redmond for so long, even the owner has lost track of the years.

“We opened and had a very busy summer that year,” owner Peter Seitz said Tuesday. “It was 29 years ago, which I can’t remember the exact year of that — it was a long time.”

Seitz opened Sully’s in 1985, at the age of 30, at the Redmond Hotel on 6th Street.

“Eagle Crest was opening the same year,” Seitz recalled. “That was one of our decisions for doing a restaurant in Redmond.”

Redmond was a different city 29 years ago.

“You knew when it was payday at the mills. We were always busy that Friday,” he said.

As Redmond’s population started to grow, so did Sully’s popularity.

“It became more tourist-oriented, and the lumber mills went away. and things changed pretty dramatically in our clientele — and it all worked to our benefit,” Seitz said.

Now, nearly three decades later, Seitz and his wife are ready to retire, and the timing was just right.

“We’ve been doing it a long time, and just needed a break from the restaurant business,” he said.

The one thing he’ll miss the most: the people.

“I have a roller coaster of emotions, employee-wise, and the town — it’s meant a lot to me,” Seitz said.

Sully’s employs about 15 people. It’s last day is April 30th.

There will be a new restaurant opening in the location very soon; the details about it have not yet been released.