By Peggy Sturdivant

“I love it here,” Debra Roberts tells me. “It’s the best view and the best patio in town. And I’m part of a big family.”

She’s talking about Anthony’s Homeport Shilshole. Roberts is like a cheerleader without the pom-poms about her place of work, one day after her 27th anniversary as a server there. “People always come back to Anthony’s,” she told me when we talked. In her case, she never left.

Like many others I know Debra Roberts from her presence at MJ’s yoga classes at Ballard Health Club. During promotions at Anthony’s she passes out $20 off certificates in class, creating a sub-group of club members who rediscover Anthony’s. What strikes me at the club proves to be true at her longtime place of work. Deb loves life and that includes her job, her place of work, her husband, garden, cats, yoga and even her commute. “I come down the Blue Ridge hill,” she said, as though apologizing for an indulgence.

Roberts is always telling people they should go to Anthony’s, reminding them of the Sunset Dinner specials or the brunch. Who loves their job this much, I wondered? I pictured the photograph I would take on a summer night, with sailboats and paddle boarders as backdrop, the mountains and Debra, sparkling along with the Sound.

Instead it was a grey day in October, but the Olympics had their first fresh snow and boats with spinnakers were making their race turn north of Anthony’s patio. The chairs were tilted toward the tables instead of filled but inside the Happy Hour crowd was tucking into different levels of the lounge. A group of teachers from Salmon Bay, two matching men in long beards, tattoos and leather. An unlikely pair of men in suits, one as long-legged and lean as a pencil, the other a dead ringer for Bluto in the old Popeye cartoons.

“We get all types,” Debra said, following my eyes. “And so many regulars. There used to be an older gentleman who would come in with his caregiver. Mr. Martini. He would always have just one martini. Another regular owned a tugboat company. I took him his last Sunset Dinner.”

Roberts didn’t plan to make a career as a server. She grew up in Southern Illinois, in a small town that her husband claims is famous for “albino squirrels and pretty girls.” She went to Spokane to study photography and met her future husband Chris there. He was from the Tri-Cities. Roberts continued west, working at Roche Harbor Resort. “That was so fun,” she recalled. In Seattle she connected with a friend from Illinois who was working at the Shilshole location of what was then only 5-6 Anthony’s restaurants. She started on October 23, 1987 and the rest has been one long story of friendships, family, good seafood and, “the best happy hour in town.”

Claiming that it’s her husband who likes to do things backwards they built up his architectural photography business, bought a house and then got married in the backyard, with a reception for 200-some at the Sons of Norway. Roberts realized that with her love of cooking, gardening, the yoga she’s been doing for 34 years, and helping her husband’s business that the work of a server fit her lifestyle perfectly.

“People are celebrating when they’re out to dinner. You get to be part of that and most people are fun. Restaurant people are certainly fun.” While we talked there was a steady stream of co-workers stopping by to say hello. Many employees were just learning the news that Manager Elijah Begin was being transferred to the Gig Harbor location. He started at the Gig Harbor location 12 years earlier, when he was sixteen. He’s worked every position but will clearly be missed at Shilshole. “They’re all my children,” Roberts said of Begin, who is the age she was when she started at Anthony’s. “They all grow up, but they come back.”

Many of her closest friends are fellow Anthony’s employees. Her friend Vanna from Shilshole days is 30-year employee who now manages the Edmonds location. Roberts is far from the most senior employee although her years as a server are extraordinary. She’s never wanted the stress of a management position, preferring a schedule that now has her in the dining room three shifts per week. “You’ve got to have a positive attitude,” she said. “Even after a rough night I tell myself ‘the next night is going to be good.’” She admits to needing an occasional break outside on what forms the point off the deck. “I go there to say some ‘Om’s.’ One night I didn’t notice people still out on the patio. I just let fly with the biggest ‘Om.’ They laughed at me and then joined in.”

Roberts confesses that she and her husband are hard pressed to even dine at other restaurants. Deciding usually comes down to her husband saying, “Let’s go to Anthony’s.” Unable to contain her enthusiasm even on a day off Roberts tells me about the Husky Basketball Coaches Nights they host with KJR broadcasting live, Anthony’s own seafood company, the pending lobster specials in November. “They always feature whatever’s fresh,” she said.

I didn’t get the summer photograph that I’d envisioned but even with the patio closed and the sky dark Roberts repeated what she’s probably been saying for 27 years, heartfelt every time. “I love it here.”