News / Life / Clark County Life

Cactus Ya Ya celebrates its silver anniversary

By Viki Eierdam for The Columbian

Published: March 31, 2019, 6:02am

20 Photos

Ryan Green, from left, of Vancouver and Kayla Green order drinks from Brittany Stansberry at Cactus Ya Ya on a recent Sunday evening. (Elayna Yussen for The Columbian) Photo Gallery

In April 1994, smoking was banned inside the Pentagon, Arsenio Hall announced the end of his late-night talk show, Howard Stern was nominated for governor of New York, and Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley shared their last days as husband and wife.

In short, it was awhile back.

Locally, with Clark County’s population hovering at about 260,000 residents, a former Minit Mart convenience store was transformed into a restaurant on Vancouver’s eastern frontier.

Surrounded by not much more than fields, the space once filled with Pepsi products, grab and go snacks and ice cream sandwiches became a restaurant and bar focusing on Southwestern cuisine in a casual atmosphere.

Twenty-five years later, with an estimated county population pushing beyond 475,000, Cactus Ya Ya continues to enjoy success, thanks to a blending of long-time employees, loyal customers and an influx of new residents.

Seeing opportunity

When shopping for a spot to call their own back in the early 1990s, owners Jim and Cheryl Rettig went with their guts.

“We saw the vacant Minit Mart and called the landlord in September of 1993. We knew that area would be booming eventually. That spot at the time seemed like it might be too far east. But the way everything grew around us, it was fun seeing it all pop up,” Jim Rettig said.

In 1994, he said, the area was still largely rural. To the east, 164th Avenue went one lane each way and had one traffic light. Southeast Mill Plain Boulevard had two lanes in each direction, and street parking was still allowed. Annual fly-ins at the since-defunct Evergreen Airport drew large summer crowds that drove business their way.

Very little in the way of restaurants surrounded them. Cascade Tavern and Salcido’s were the closest Mill Plain neighbors, and Brad’s Buffet took up a spot on the southwest corner of Mill Plain and 164th. The last two have morphed into other businesses through the years. In the same year, Juliano’s Pizzeria relocated from its Cascade Park storefront.

Booming

Jim Rettig recalled spying one of the Melo brothers from the since-closed Health Experience Athletic Clubs on a backhoe in the middle of a field just east of 164th. He was excitedly talking about his plans to build a second location and all the other growth being discussed in the area. That was shortly after Fred Meyer invested in the now densely populated corridor with its Fisher’s Landing location.

Across the street, Albertsons and Blockbuster Video had already changed the landscape — and added commercial conveniences — for Cascade Park residents. Even still, there was no Applebee’s, Target, Red Robin or Columbia Tech Center — and 192nd Avenue was a pipe dream for developers and not much more than an abyss between Vancouver and Camas.

Through it all, Cactus Ya Ya managed to retain its place in the market in the face of competition from predominantly chain eateries around them.

Wanting to captain their own destiny, the Rettigs bought the entire corner that Cactus Ya Ya sits on in April 2003. That purchase consisted of almost 1 acre, including a three-tenant retail complex and a separate building that has been a hair salon for decades.

Longevity pays

Cheryl Rettig, a Camas High School graduate, comes from a large Camas family. Jim Rettig is originally from Central Illinois, and the two met and learned their hospitality skills while managing a lodge in Alaska.

Their restaurant manager, Jennifer Walter, celebrated 20 years with Cactus Ya Ya in March and, although the kitchen manager has taken a couple of breaks over the years, Gabe Guettich began at 18 and is now 42. Leah VanBelt started her Cactus Ya Ya career as a busser at 17, is now the bar manager and recently celebrated her 30th birthday. Kim McHaney came on board as a server 15 1/2 years ago and is a jovial familiar face with the large base of repeat customers.

Longevity like this is nearly unheard of in the restaurant industry and is the basis for the family atmosphere that customers site as their reason for returning.

’23 glorious years’

Charlie Rutherford says he set foot inside Cactus Ya Ya “23 glorious years” ago. He and his wife consider Jim and Cheryl Rettig friends and bonded over the men’s home state of Illinois.

Rutherford said, “When we first moved out from Chicago, we literally knew not a soul. One day I was talking to someone and they said ‘You really need to try Cactus Ya Ya.’ We went when it was nearly closing time. They (Jim and Cheryl) invited us to sit around their fire pit. We talked about what we had in common — golf, Chicago — and it took off from there.”

As they raised their kids in a Vancouver cul-de-sac, the Rutherfords continued to frequent Cactus Ya Ya. Over the years, it has been the site of their twins’ eighth birthday party, high school homecoming and one of their sons’ wedding rehearsal dinner.

“The reason we go there is these are the most generous people in the world,” Rutherford said. “The food is amazing, and the golf is fun. It’s a bar, too, and they’re conscious of people being taken care of and it being a safe place.”

An avid golfer, Jim added a small indoor putting green to the bar area of Cactus Ya Ya in the early days. A few years later, when more tables were needed, he had an outdoor five-hole putting green installed toward the back of the side patio. Over the years, that area has been the source of camaraderie that Jim envisioned for it.

On the Menu

Since inception, Cactus Ya Ya has made all its sauces in-house, including its signature black-eyed pea dip and soy ginger sauce. They have a seafood chowder chock full of bay shrimp, halibut and salmon that they make only on Thursdays. People rave about their Baja halibut fish tacos. Only shredded beef, not ground, is served on premise. They smoke all the salmon themselves, and it appears on several dishes including their wildly popular Ya Ya rolls. On the bar side, margaritas are their specialty, and the Nuclear Rita is a consistent winner for fans of this Grand Marnier-topped version.

— Viki Eierdam

Loyal clientele

Longtime Vancouver resident Molly Gould has been a faithful Ya Ya customer since Day 1. She comes in for business lunches or after hours to meet up with friends. She remembers that Cactus Ya Ya was one of the first local spots to offer microbrew — cutting edge in the ’90s. In fact, Cheryl Rettig recounted their “micro fish” special — one microbrew and a fish taco, playing off the old school microfiche document storage.

“When you go, you don’t have to go with other people because you’ll run into someone you know. It’s good for family. It’s good for friends. All different segments of the population go in there from construction workers to business people. It’s really cool.”