After a short wait, the Tall Pine is open once more
Owner Cindy Wilbur sits alongside waitress Azalia Sergeant outside the Tall Pine. The iconic restaurant opened up for the first time in 48 days on Monday after being closed due to its longstanding tall pine falling on the building during the January windstorm that caused rolling blackouts across North Idaho.
Photo by JOSH McDONALD
PINEHURST — It’s been almost 50 days since the Tall Pine last served a customer, but on Monday — 48 days after one of the most violent windstorms in Idaho history — the Tall Pine once again was open for business.
On the morning of Jan. 13, the 133-year-old eponymous tree associated with the landmark came crashing down on top of the adjoining restaurant and for a quick minute it felt like that would be the end of one of the Silver Valley’s classic burger joints.
Fortunately for all of us, owners Cindy and Jerry Wilbur never thought that at all — due largely to the response shown by their Silver Valley brethren.
“We live in the most awesome community ever. The morning that the tree fell, we probably had 35 people out here ready to help. We had so many people who just showed up to help and with all of the damage, because we definitely weren’t the only ones, it was just awesome that everyone wanted to help us,” Cindy said.
As they sifted through the downed foliage, the discovery that the building had remained mostly intact, allowed the Wilburs to take a sigh of relief. Instead of having to make the choice to rebuild, they only needed to remedy a few minor things — but those minor things allowed them to make a few important improvements.
“None of our windows blew out, surprisingly,” Cindy said. “Our walk-in freezer was crushed and we had a little damage in the prep room due to a branch coming through, but insurance came in and did their assessment. We scrapped eight layers of roofing off the building — now there’s only one. The insulation was only about an inch thick, now it’s about eight inches thick.”
A GoFundMe account was set up after the initial storm, which the Wilburs used to cover their waitresses’ wages during the time that they weren’t able to work.
The tree itself was a tall part of the restaurant’s allure, a fact that isn’t lost on the Wilburs, but don’t worry because they are going to get the most out of their former namesake.
“The tree was cut up in lengths and part of it is going to become round tables,” Cindy said. “But a big section of it is setting in the weather and being blued and there will be many slabs cut, one will be here (indicating to the restaurant’s bar) and parts will be used for a new gazebo. We also might slice off branches and make some custom coasters.”
Cindy also plans to commission a special fiberglass replica of the tree — maybe a little bit smaller than the original — to display outside near their soon-to-be new gazebo.
They are still waiting on their new walk-in freezer, but once they have it, they will once again hold their popular weekend prime-rib and chicken fried steak special nights.
The Tall Pine is open seven days a week, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and they are only closed Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas.