Business News: Want to Buy Alpenland, a Delicious Piece of Mercer Island History?

Linda Gadola says it’s very hard for her and her husband Tony to say goodbye to 14 years of joy operating the on Mercer Island, but he has health issues that are making it necessary for them to step down from operating the popular Mercer Island haunt.

“Our hope is that someone will buy it and continue it just how it is,” Linda Gadola says. She says it’s only by necessity that they are selling. Tony Gadola has had a heart condition since soon after they bought the business, but it has only recently become necessary for him to step back and slow down, she says.

“We didn’t want to sell so soon, but the doctor insists,” she says.

The Gadolas followed in the original owners’ footsteps when they bought Alpenland from its founders, Gunter and Katrin Bonnofsky, drawing on the Swiss-born Tony Gadola’s training as a professional chef to add to the restaurant’s proprietary offerings, which range from homemade soups and salads to hot and cold sandwiches and sausages.

The person who buys the business (It’s listed price is $195,000) will get those special recipes and a warm welcome into a business that Linda Gadola says feels like home. The Bonnofskys, for example, had planned to stick around and help train the Gadolas for a few months when they bought the restaurant, and are still working there today, Gadola says.

“We really are like a family,” with all 11 staff members, including the Gadolas, she says.

The 1,700-square-foot business covers all the bases, with restaurant seating and sit-down service for up to 52 people, a European deli counter where customers can buy meats, cheeses, and prepared meals to go, and a European-style market with a variety of food and gift items (). The last couple of months of each year, the market transforms into a sort of Christmas wonderland, Gadola says, filled with a variety of European gift items—especially nutcrackers—for sale.

The business, located at 2707 78th Ave. S.E. on Mercer Island, has averaged gross sales of about $483,000 over the last couple of years, Gadola says, and is well-established. It is well-known—particularly among Mercer Island High School students—for its pretzel rolls, though those are actually made off site at a Tacoma-area bakery. The Gadolas are available to help a buyer get trained and make a smooth transition, she says, as they themselves try to adjust to retirement.

Gadola says the business is so much a part of their lives that she’s not sure yet what she and Tony will do.

“We live on the island, so we’ll be around,” she says, adding, “I’m hoping to have lunch sometimes at the deli with my friends.”

Anyone interested in buying the business can contact Mark of Lange Peizer Commercial Real Estate at 206-909-3314.