Snohomish Buzz Inn to stay, restaurant at airport gets 12-month lease extension

The Snohomish Buzz Inn as seen in August 2024.

The Snohomish Buzz Inn as seen in August 2024.
Photo by Tribune staff

SNOHOMISH — The Snohomish Buzz Inn is staying put another year.

Late last week, the restaurant signed a new one-year lease extension with Harvey Field, Buzz Inn company General Manager Alexa Alexander said.

It runs from Oct. 1 of this year to Oct. 1, 2025.

“We’ll be able to enjoy another summer and homestyle meals in the winter,” Alexander said.

It’s been there 26 years, and a home to poker nights, class reunions, bands and airplane watching.

Harvey Field owns the building Buzz Inn is in. The airport wants to refurbish the building and rearrange the space. Harvey said previously that after the project is done, having a restaurant on-site would still be part of the plan.

It was mutually beneficial to extend the lease, Harvey Field’s owner Kandace Harvey said.

“Everything associated with the project is taking longer than anticipated and is expected to take an additional 12 months,” Harvey said.

When the Snohomish Buzz Inn publicly confirmed it would have been closing, the disappointment among its fans was palpable. Alexander said she received many phone calls about it.

Buzz Inn began leasing the space in October 1998 on a 20-year lease. In 2018, it was extended another six years. Before Buzz Inn, the Harvey family ran its own full-service restaurant here called Harvey’s.

"Thanks to our great relationship with airport ownership we have been able to extend a temporary lease to continue our service to the Snohomish community!" the company said in a statement.

Separately, Buzz Inn has begun a promotion to offer a 15% discount to all Boeing employees who present their badge. They also plan to have a promotion to knock 15% off the whole bill during October.