When Eazy Peazy Eatz opens at 8 a.m. Saturday, October 21, it will mark the one year anniversary since the breakfast and lunch cafe opened on Main Street in Banks.
Opened in 2022 by husband-and-wife team Naeem and Katy Woods, the restaurant sits in a tiny building that most recently housed Cafe 47, and before that, Trailhead Cafe.
Just after the breakfast rush on a Wednesday morning, orders were still coming in, by phone—Katy answers, takes down the order, and prints it out—and from the counter, where Banks locals, visitors to the coast, and cyclists on the trailhead cafe come to grab coffee, a breakfast burrito, or a sandwich.
“There’s no rhyme or reason to the days,” said Katy of the flow of traffic in and out of Eazy Peazy. She’d scheduled this interview in expectation of a slowdown that never really came.
Katy handles the front of house duties, taking orders, bringing food to customers, and more, while Naeem handles most of the cooking. He has a significant background as a chef, working in restaurants for most of his life.
In Corvallis, his father ran Sweet Lews Bar-B-Que, a mainstay in Oregon State University tailgate parties of yore and from there, Naeem has worked most of his adult life as a chef. Eazy Peazy is the first restaurant the two have opened together.
Katy described the food as a an American breakfast and lunch spot.
The two began looking for a place close to home that would work for their concept of a two person eatery, and when Cafe 47 put their business and equipment on the market, it was the right fit.
“We wanted to make sure the business model worked no matter what,” said Katy.
Katy also has family in the restaurant industry; her grandfather and great-grandfather ran the now-shuttered Crab Bowl in Portland.
With one year under their belt, the two—with no other employees, it is just the two of them running the five table eatery—are looking at adding some new ideas to the mix.
Eazy Peazy Eatz is the October 2023 Business of the Month!
Announcing a new feature: The business of the month!
Here, we dive into a local business (not part of a chain) located within our newspaper’s territory in Banks, Gales Creek, Timber, Buxton, Manning, Roy, Mountaindale, Hayward, Hillside, Glenwood, Kansas City, Watts, and Greenville.
Know of a cool business we should feature? Email us at [email protected] or [email protected] or leave a message at 503-395-8131 with your ideas!
The North Plains couple, married for more than two years, together for 15, are planning to shift away from disposable cutlery. They’d anticipated more takeout orders when they opened, but the spot has long been a gathering place for in-person dining before they opened Eazy Peazy in the building.
They’re also eyeing offering delivery in the future, and are looking to add more after-hours classes and some tea parties.
They pour Capitol Press coffee, a Hillsboro-based roaster, and you’ll find merchandise from local crafters inside with Banks-themed decor. A lunch special on Wednesday advertised the Brave Burger, a robust meal made from a beef patty with cheddar cheese, bacon, egg, ham, lettuce, tomato, and onion.
To stay up-to-date on how their business evolves, Katy recommended people sign up for their email newsletter on their website (www.eazypeazyeatz.com).
Eazy Peazy Eatz is located in downtown Banks at 13847 NW Main Street.
Current hours are Wednesday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Order ahead by calling 503-372-9471. Find them on social media on Facebook and Instagram.
Chas Hundley is the editor of the Banks Post and sister news publications the Gales Creek Journal and the Salmonberry Magazine. He grew up in Gales Creek and has a cat.
