Move to Highway 26 profitable in many ways for Susie Littlewood

ROYAL CITY – The move in May from a downtown Royal City location to the old Judy's location on Highway 26 has been profitable for Deli-sh Café owner Susie Littlewood in more ways than one.

It certainly has worked out financially, Susie said last week. And it has worked out in ways she might not have expected.

Susie is a people person, and people are flocking to her. They tell her all kinds of stories. Some are cute, some are funny, some are informative, some are warm and some are hard to believe.

Susie has agreed to share her stories with us during the coming year, or years, depending on how things work out, in a new column called Susie's Corner, RFD. Look for it. It will start soon in the Crescent Bar Chronicle.

“I try to make every person who enters full and happy and ready to face whatever the rest of their day may bring,” Susie said.

One of the earliest, and perhaps saddest stories that Susie heard occurred in July as she arrived at the restaurant on a Saturday morning. Driving into the parking lot, she noticed a girl in her mid-20s sitting on the side of the building, under the awning, with a large pile of stuff next to her.

“As I drove closer,” Susie said, “I noticed two little girls lying on blankets next to her. I quickly parked and went to see what was going on.”

As Susie approached, she girl exclaimed: “Thank goodness! I'm so glad you are open! The mosquitoes are terrible out here!”

Susie took mom and daughters inside and got the rest of the story. They were moving to Moscow, ID from Seattle.

But the girl and her boyfriend got into an argument, and he dumped her and the girls near the restaurant at about five in the morning.

“To say I was horrified is an understatement,” Susie said.

But the girl was not without help. She said she had already called friends from Pullman to come and pick her up.

“I gladly gave the adorable little girls (wearing tutus over their jeans) breakfast, and they sat with my daughter, Khrystal, who loves little kids, and drew pictures,” Susie said.

A few hours later, the girl's friends arrived and loaded up her belongings, and off she went.

“I will always remember those adorable little girls thanking and hugging us,” Susie said.

In the early afternoon of a nice October day, a guy all decked out in hunting gear walked in and said: “I've got a story for you!”

He told Susie about the time he and his wife stopped in earlier in the summer on a road trip to Othello to look at a pup hunting dog. He raved about how much he loved Susie's Cougar Gold Bacon Burger that day and how he had planned to stop and get another when he went to get his new hunting buddy.

Turned out he was from Pennsylvania and had flown into Seattle the evening before and spent the night at The Four Seasons. He said he got to talking to his room service waiter about his journey and where he was going.

Then the waiter said: “If you are going to Othello, then you have to stop at this place on the way and have the best burger in the state"

Turns out the waiter was also a fan of Susie's Cougar Gold Bacon Burger. They had a chuckle about how they both knew of Deli-sh, seemingly out in the middle of nowhere.

Susie admits her knowledge of football players is pretty limited. Unless you are Steve Largent or Russell Wilson, she is probably not going to recognize you.

However, she was proud to add Jack Thompson, former WSU quarterback who went on to play for the Cincinnati Bengals, to her list.

The Throwin' Samoan, as he was nicknamed, stopped in on his way home from the first home Cougar football game of the year. Everybody in the cafe was buzzing about Jack Thompson – except for Susie. She had no clue. Now she does. He's a regular.

“It has been fun to talk to him throughout the football season about his passion for all things WSU Cougar,” Susie said. “Jack is involved in a movement known as Cougs First, a business network of Cougs supporting Cougs.

If you are a Coug fan interested in supporting Cougs, Susie recommends checking out their Facebook page - Cougs First.