Each Sterling’s Restaurant in the Tri-Cities has played a significant role in Saber Sterling Kingham’s life.

She was 12 hours old when her father and restaurant founder Jim Sterling carried her around the original central Richland location pouring coffee for diners.

She was a member of the restaurant’s wait staff and began to dip her toe in management when the Kennewick location opened in 2008. She was named site manager for the Richland Sterling’s on Queensgate Drive when it opened in 2011.

Sterling’s Kennewick location at 3200 Clearwater Ave. is on the market, but the Tri-City icon isn’t leaving town. Owner Saber Sterling Kingham is currently searching for property to build a new and bigger restaurant

| Photo by Jared Quinlan

Now, as full owner, she says it’s time for the longtime Tri-Cities restaurant to make its next move.

After 17 years at 3200 Clearwater Ave. in Kennewick, Sterling’s has plans to move.

Sterling Kingham says the space no longer meets the restaurant’s needs. The property was listed for $1.8 million through Windermere Group One in mid-June.

“So much has changed,” she said of the family business.

Committed to Kennewick

But as Sterling Kingham stressed to her staff, Sterling’s isn’t planning to leave Kennewick. Rather, she is looking for a location, potentially in the Southridge area, where a new Sterling’s nearly twice the size of the current Kennewick restaurant can be built and continue serving loyal customers.

“There is something cool about creating something from scratch,” Sterling Kingham said.

Jim Sterling opened his original restaurant 40 years ago as part of the Sambo’s franchise before it was renamed Bananas and then at last took on its founder’s own name.

“It came time when he started a family to make it more family-oriented,” Sterling Kingham said.

Sterling’s is known for “polished casual dining,” with a laidback atmosphere in a well-appointed dining room and an extensive menu, including its popular all-you-can-eat salad bar. It’s also a popular spot for Sunday brunch or a steak or seafood dinner.

But the entrees aren’t all that has grown over the years. The original Richland restaurant on George Washington Way was torn down in 2016, replaced by a new Sterling’s closer to the Columbia River to showcase a riverfront view. That new restaurant also had enough room for a full bar for the first time, Sterling Kingham said.

Renovation on the Richland Queensgate location wrapped up in early July to provide space for its own full bar.

But the Kennewick restaurant, at just about 5,000 square feet, can’t accommodate similar improvements.

“The building’s been good to us but we need to expand. We need more space,” Sterling Kingham said.

She’s hoping the restaurant’s success in Kennewick will entice its next owner, along with its amenities.

Sterling’s completely renovated the interior of the Kennewick location when it purchased the building in 2008. The location has done well and holds a lot of memories, owner Saber Sterling Kingham says, but the restaurant has outgrown the space.

| Photo by Jared Quinlan 

The one-acre property has its own dedicated parking lot with 51 spaces. Despite being built 30 years before Sterling’s moved in, much of the building is newer, as the restaurateur fully remodeled it down to the studs before opening in 2008, according to the listing by Windermere Group One’s Dan Hanson Group.

And best of all? It comes fully equipped, from the kitchen to the dining room.

“It’s turnkey ready tomorrow,” said Amanda Unser-Butterworth with Windermere Group One.

New chapter

Sterling Kingham has made arrangements to retain the Kennewick restaurant’s staff should the building sell before a new location is ready. Those staff will be spread out among the two Richland locations in the meantime, noting that seasoned cooks, waiters and other staff will be a boon when a new Sterling’s opens.

The Kennewick restaurant will remain open until it finds a buyer.

And the restaurant operator isn’t satisfied with writing a new chapter for its Kennewick location. Sterling Kingham hinted that she is also considering the possibility of opening a Sterling’s in Pasco.

“It’s been 14 years since our last expansion, which is slower growth than we’d like,” she said. “My kids are in the school all-day phase and that means I’m looking to do more.”