By Steve Powell

spowell@marysvilleglobe.com

MARYSVILLE – It might have been the shortest grand opening of all time.

Sunday night, a new bar called Woody’s opened on the back side of Fanny’s Restaurant.

But due to Gov. Jay Inslee’s restaurant and bar shut down due to COVID-19, the facility will be closed starting Tuesday, at least until the end of the month.

“We were really excited about it yesterday at four o’clock – a little less at eight,” Cindy Pilon, one of the owners of the family business, said Monday.

Fanny’s has been a Marysville favorite for 28 years. It was named after Pilon’s grandma while Woody’s is named after her grandpa.

Fanny’s still will serve breakfast and lunch. They are still deciding how to offer take-out during the shut down.

But Pilon said her brother, Terry Shrout, was getting bored, wanted to do something different and missed being around at night. He used to brew beer and was in a beer club, so they decided on a bar that would serve wine and beer.

Woody’s will have eight taps. Hours will be after Fanny’s closes, from 2-7 p.m. The bar menu will include burgers, quesadillas, pretzels and more. “Doing this is how we do most things – on the fly. If it works we’ll keep it – if it doesn’t we’ll throw it out,” Pilon said.

Entrance is in the back parking lot as the bar is in the former banquet room.

“It’s kind of like a Speakeasy feel when you get into this dark room and then enter,” Pilon said.

Arin Losier, a niece of an owner, was the interior designer for the project. “The bar is her baby,” Pilon said, adding, “We will probably be working on it more this week since we’ll have so much spare time on our hands.”

She said the family business has gone through hard times before.

“We opened up in 1991 in a recession, so it’s not our first rodeo,” she said. “We’ll all be pouring beer, cooking and serving.”