New owners for 70-year-old Pierce County diner with plate-sized pancakes, endless coffee
The Pine Cone, a 70-year-old diner in University Place and one of the few still standing in Pierce County, has new owners eager to put their stamp on this American staple.
Aelysa Park and Jason Lee quietly took over the restaurant in February from Dave and Dana Verellen, who thoughtfully modernized the space three years ago.
Evelyn Berkstrom and Ethel Boedecker opened The Pine Cone in 1955 — decades before UP incorporated, according to archives at the Northwest Room at Tacoma Public Library. It had just one other owner, twin brothers, before Steve Warp bought it in 1986. Warp ran it for 34 years, closing temporarily during the COVID-19 pandemic before selling it in 2022.
The Verellens added forest-themed wallpaper behind the lunch counter and a small bar to serve — for the first time ever — beer, wine and cocktails. Otherwise, much of its 1950s-era character remained, from wood paneling to the forest green and tan booths.
“We really want to see them succeed,” Dana Verellen told The News Tribune in a message, adding they will hold onto Dusty’s Hideaway, their cozy, family-friendly haunt in a Craftsman house in McKinley Hill. After closing Zodiac Supper Club in Hilltop not long after getting into The Pine Cone, they were just ready to downsize, she said.
Park and Lee will continue the tradition of family ownership, and they aren’t planning any major overhauls to the diner, which welcomed a steady stream of families big and small, couples and friends on a drizzly Saturday morning in March. That is — outside of switching to custom Northwest Blend beans, ground in-house, from Puyallup-based Martin Henry Coffee Roasters.
The menu is big but not overwhelming, featuring, of course, breakfast classics — plates of hashbrowns, meat and eggs, usually from Wilcox Farms, omelets and bennies — plus fun pancakes in flavors like cinnamon roll and almond-poppyseed, sizeable salads and sandwiches, with house burgers and ample veggie options, too.
They hope to extend hours later into the afternoon and early evening this summer, they said. Dinner is a possibility again, something the Verellens tried for a bit. In addition to savory dinner ideas from the kitchen, they have discussed incorporating some of their Korean heritage, including crunchy fried chicken in sweet-and-spicy sauces.
Aelysa said she is also an avid baker and, once they settle in, hopes to experiment with not-too-sweet desserts such as chapssal doughnuts, a rice-flour wonder often filled with sweet red bean or nuts, and dojima roll, a fluffy chiffon-style cake with various flavors of airy whipped cream.
She and her husband liked the neighborhood feel of University Place and the diner’s place in the area’s history. Coming from Sumner, where they owned a Baskin-Robbins for a decade, getting to know the neighbors and return visitors, it felt comfortable, said Aelysa.
Their son, Joshua Lee, who helped share his parents’ story with The News Tribune, added that their primary goal is to continue serving the community while also exploring “new ways to bridge the gap between generations” and encouraging all walks of life to join them in this longtime community gathering hall.
He pointed to the Korean concept of jeong. “It’s a type of affection or care for people that’s in a very deep or intimate way,” he said.
“I like meeting people and serving people,” added Aelysa.
The Parks trained for a couple of months with the Verellens and the staff — most of whom remain, including the chefs and veteran servers who don’t miss an empty mug — before the sale closed on Feb. 11. Already they have gotten to know some of the regulars.
THE PINE CONE
▪ 7912 27th St. W, University Place, 253-301-2115, thepineconeup.com
▪ Monday-Friday 7 a.m.-3 p.m., Saturday-Sunday 8 a.m.-3 p.m.
▪ Details: mid-century diner under new ownership, follow on Facebook for specials and updates
This story was originally published March 31, 2025 at 5:15 AM.