Fish and chips restaurant open during health crisis

A new local business has moved into Pahrump hoping to bring the fresh catch of the sea to the residents of Pahrump.

Seattle Fish & Chips is a new local restaurant where you can enjoy freshly-caught fish, along with daily specials. One of Pahrump’s newest eateries, it is brought to you by Marla and Guy Vallee, who opened the restaurant here at the end of 2019.

The restaurant also carries a collection of John Wayne memorabilia with the back wall of the new eatery splashed with “the Duke’s” likeness and his Norwester yacht. The theme carried on the other walls of the restaurant was of the Seattle fishing port in the early 20th century—works painted by artist Jerry Ragg of San Diego.

The Vallees aren’t new to the restaurant industry and have owned a roughly 144-seat restaurant, Waterfront Cafe, in La Conner, Washington since 2008. Marla stated that they also “created a nonprofit family entertainment center in Mount Vernon, Washington, in 1998, which is still thriving within the community.”

Though the owners do miss their friends up north, they have built their retirement home here and love the weather that this area has to offer. Though they fully moved to Pahrump over a year ago, they still keep in very good contact with the staff in their La Conner Waterfront Cafe and travel up to Washington whenever it is needed.

While many may think that getting a restaurant to become known in Pahrump is difficult, Marla stated, that people were coming by the restaurant before the grand opening wondering when it was going to start operations. Some of the interest grew after area media reported on the fish and chips restaurant.

Another effective way that really helped to get the Seattle Fish & Chips’ name out there was social media, along with their website, seattlefishandchips.com

Though being an owner has its challenges, Marla sees their employees as extended family members. She stated, “Most of our employees have been with us for years. One of the kitchen staff for Seattle Fish & Chips actually worked for us at our restaurant in La Conner for four or five years and moved down here to work with us.”

As for the huge crisis going on around the world right now that has many people distressed, COVID-19 is affecting everyone’s business and personal life. In fact, it has even led to thousands of layoffs and some business closures in the state.

Seattle Fish & Chips owners have decided to stay open for the time being and are doing take-out and curbside only. “We wanted to be able to keep some of our staff employed and felt that there would be a need for take-out service in our community,” Marla said. “We have also made food to feed any school children that are unable to have a meal,” Marla said.

Though many people want to make sure that everything is done with caution and handled well, the restaurant has taken many measures to ensure safety of the employees and the food. Cleanliness has always been a top priority at the restaurants, and Seattle Fish, in fact, closes on Tuesdays and has the staff come in and do a deep clean, as well as a regular cleaning.

Marla said that they always have bottles of hand sanitizer available and are washing their hands even more, as well as wearing gloves. She said that, “We are strictly following the CDC guidelines and only have two other staff members working besides my husband and I.”

Measures are being taken during these hard times, but thankfully they remain open for those who need it, as well as helping the students in Pahrump that that were affected by the closure of the schools in Nevada.