Where Tri-Citians Have Been Making Memories Since 1976
About Cedars at Pier One
Doug and Carrie Lundgren represent the newest chapter in Cedars at Pier One’s long and storied life on Clover Island. Since taking ownership in 2019, they have approached Cedars not simply as a restaurant, but as a legacy worth preserving — one to be refined, elevated, and thoughtfully carried forward for a new generation. Even as early improvements were met almost immediately by the challenges of the Covid-19 era, their commitment remained the same: to care for Cedars well, honor its place in Tri-Cities history, and continue shaping an experience that feels both timeless and renewed.​
A legacy on Clover Island
Beneath its current chapter, Cedars carries nearly five decades of history — one deeply connected to the growth of Clover Island itself and to the evolving story of waterfront dining in the Tri-Cities.
1941
1953
1954
1975
1976
1978
1979
1983
1999
2006
2016
2019
2020
The Port of Kennewick acquires Clover Island, beginning the long transformation of the island into a public-facing waterfront destination.
Clover Island is reconfigured to its current size, helping shape the footprint of the island as the community knows it today.
Metz Marina opens, establishing one of the earliest major destination anchors on Clover Island.
Dave Mitcham arrives in Kennewick to help launch the new Cedars restaurant as kitchen manager, part of the early Cedars ownership group led by Ray Gillett.
Cedars opens on Clover Island, beginning what would become a long-standing place in the Tri-Cities dining scene. Port anniversary materials identify it as opening on March 4, 1976.
The Clover Island Motor Inn opens, further cementing Clover Island as a hospitality and waterfront destination, with Cedars sitting at the heart of one of the island’s defining development eras: marina, restaurant, then inn.
Darci Mitcham joins Cedars, beginning her own decades-long connection to the restaurant before later becoming co-owner.
Dave Mitcham later recalled entering a profit-sharing arrangement, signaling that the restaurant’s leadership was already evolving well before the formal 2006 ownership transition.
A fire causes major damage to the building, leading to a substantial renovation and rebuild.
Dave and Darci Mitcham purchase Cedars outright, after decades of involvement with the restaurant.
Cedars is recognized by the Port as part of Clover Island’s transformation and legacy as a community waterfront landmark.
Doug and Carrie Lundgren purchase Cedars, stepping into stewardship of one of the Tri-Cities’ most recognizable riverfront restaurants.
A refresh with new paint, updated flooring, and lighting begins under the Lundgrens, but the Covid-19 pandemic interrupts those early efforts.
TODAY
For nearly 50 years, Cedars at Pier One has remained part of the rhythm of Clover Island — shaped by change, tested by challenge, and carried forward by the people who believed it was worth preserving. Its story is not only one of longevity, but of place: a restaurant woven into the waterfront history of the Tri-Cities and still writing its next chapter.