Rosemary Cafe in downtown Vancouver closes

The Rosemary Cafe, which had occupied the ground floor in the 1001 Main St. building in downtown Vancouver, closed its doors Dec. 31.

The restaurant went through two owners since it opened in 2005. The most recent owner, however, operated it the longest. He closed the business to retire, the building’s landlord Dean Irvin said.

“Yet another fine local family restaurant CLOSED. This is so wrong,” wrote Steven Nelson on Facebook on Jan. 12 at the cafe.

The cafe’s fans had praised the restaurant on TripAdvisor.com as offering “a relaxing breakfast in a nostalgic spot” and “great food in a relaxed, inviting atmosphere.”

The historic building that housed the cafe was built in 1928 as a federal savings and loan; its old bank vault still resides in the building. Irvin is currently looking for another food service business to lease the space.

“Food service is very good for downtown,” Irvin said. “It drives traffic to the downtown city center.

“It’s good for all the adjoining businesses because it brings traffic.”