David Giles has been running the restaurant side of Yo Yo’s for the new owner, his daughter Catherine, who will be arriving in Oroville soon. Photo by Gary DeVon

OROVILLE – Fresh is what Yo Yo’s Restaurant is all about – fresh food and fresh ideas, says David Giles, who has opened the restaurant back up after it was recently purchased for his daughter Catherine.

Giles, who bought the restaurant for his daughter had intended on bringing all four of his children in on the business, but his 23-year-old daughter was the only one the arrangement would work for, he said.

Giles says he has 30 years in the restaurant business, having run a successful eatery in North Bend for several years, he then went to work for Sysco Food Services which supplies restaurants. When he and that company had a parting of the ways he says one of the delivery people he had managed told him about Yo Yo’s being for sale.

Although most of the staff will seem familiar, Giles has already made some changes in the way food is prepared.

“Everything is fresh, if you have a roast beef sandwich we cooked the roast… we didn’t buy it pre-cooked and just slice it. We hand-dipped and fried the real cod you get in your fish and chips too. We make our own hamburger patties out of quality beef, not frozen patties that anyone can buy,” he said. “We make our own fries and onion rings. We want you to have a good meal and to think the price is right and the portions are fair and that’s what we’ve been hearing from customers so far.”

The tables all now sport white tablecloths giving the restaurant a bit of class without being overdone.

Giles said he hopes to “up-class the food and atmosphere a little” without seeming pretentious. He wants to make it a place where people might order a glass of wine to go with their dinner.

He also wants to have fun. He said that rather then change the name of the restaurant and have to buy an expensive new sign he’d rather go with the yo yo theme and has already purchased 100 yo yos to used as decorations around the restaurant.

“All adults like to remember when they were a kid and the yo yos will help them remember that,” he said. “We are striving to serve you a delicious meal in a light and casual atmosphere.”

That fun will carry over to what the restaurant will offer if Giles can work things out. He’d like to do something he describes as a “little bit off the wall” and calls “the feast” which would be for parties of 10 to 12 with the meal served on an eight foot board.

“Something that reminds you of the days of yore,” he said. “We’d like to generate a little bit of a fun atmosphere. We want your memory of the occasion when you eat here to be great and not unpleasant.”

Giles said he will continue working on the restaurant side, while his daughter takes care of the bar, which they hope to have open before Super Bowl Sunday so they can have a “big blow out” for the game. The state Liquor License notice to be posted for the front of the restaurant was sent to Oroville, but the post office accidentally sent it back putting the license behind another week.

The restaurant closed recently when health problems caused the former owners Roger and Hazel McClendon to put it up for sale. And even though winter isn’t thought to be the best time to reopen, Giles said with the other restaurant owners closing to go on vacations, the business during the holiday season was pretty good.

“It was pretty steady. We did well with lots of parties of six and 12, especially considering we didn’t have a credit chard machine yet,” he said.

Giles said he plans for the restaurant, located at 1412 Main Street, to be open regular hours seven days a week. The restaurant can be reached at (509) 476-9696.