One of Blaine’s most well-known breakfast and lunch restaurants is aptly named after Blaine’s nickname “The Peace Arch City.”
John Quimod and Kylie Bestul have owned the Peace Arch City Café since 2012, and have operated at their current location, 658 Peace Portal Drive, since late 2017.
The spacious dining floor and brick walls makes for a comforting environment at the café for patrons to converse while enjoying a fresh meal.
“It’s been nice to be in a small community,” Quimod said. “The locals are what makes it go, and the international Canadian traffic is the icing on the cake.”
Quimod and Bestul met in Hawaii when both worked for Norwegian Cruise Line, where Quimod was a restaurant manager and Bestul was a waitress. After living in Seattle together, they moved to Blaine and opened their former restaurant Little Red Caboose in 2009.
“It was like a working honeymoon,” Quimod said. “We were just going to do that for a couple of years.”
In 2012, the location of the former Blackberry House Cafe became available at 321 H Street and the couple purchased the building to begin Peace Arch City Café. The two spent five years in that location before moving to their current downtown spot.
“I came out to Blaine looking to do something temporarily,” Quimod said. “But one door of opportunity kept opening so we just stepped through it and followed it, and here we are today.”
Quimod owned restaurants in his hometown in the Dallas-Fort Worth area before taking a break to work for the cruise line.
“I just had to get out of the scene for a little while,” Quimod said. “I thought Hawaii would be six months, and then it turned out to be three years so that was quite the adventure.”
Today, Quimod faces the pros and cons of owning a small-town restaurant. Local support makes the job great but also makes owning a restaurant in a town like Blaine difficult, Quimod said.
“There’s only so many people to go around,” Quimod said. “From Namaste to Chada Thai, there’s 14 restaurants or cafés and coffee shops. The same people who support us have to support everyone else at the same time.”
Restaurant recommendation: Quimod recommends readers try the migas for breakfast and the D-Street sandwich for lunch.
This article is part of a series in The Northern Light highlighting Blaine and Birch Bay restaurants.
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