Bunns add pizza to list of "Somethin' Special"

by Nathan Arneal
Published 2/13/19

The Bunns are expanding their Main Street business empire.
OK, that may be overstating things a bit, but there will be pizza involved, at least.

Lori and Bernard Bunn are the new owners of Gambino’s Pizza. Lori also owns LA Tanning and Somethin’ Speical Boutique in the same building.

Bernard and Lori Bunn are the new owners of North Bend’s Gambino’s Pizza.
The couple has had a close-up look at the operation for several years now while operating LA Tanning and Somethin’ Special Boutique in the northeast corner of the Datel Building. When they heard that the Gambino’s restaurant next door in the southeast corner of the building was for sale, they were intrigued.

About a month later, on Dec. 26, they were signing papers and diving headfirst into the restaurant business.

“It’s taken a lot to get used to all the changes doing this kind of a business,” Bernard Bunn said. “On the farm there’s hidden stuff. You come in here and there’s hidden stuff, too.”

“We’re learning as we go,” Lori said.

Bernard farms north of North Bend and Lori will continue to run LA Tanning and the boutique next door full time, though she can easily go back and forth through a doorway that connects the two businesses.

Previous Gambino’s owners Kevin Lundholm and Doug Sheppard ran the business for two years after taking it over from Ed and Jan Gray, who opened Gambino’s in North Bend in 1995.

The Bunns don’t plan major changes to Gambino’s, but they have made a few tweaks.

Soup and few other items have been added to the salad bar. The lunch buffet, which had been pared back to a few days a week, is back every day.

“I talked to a couple of people who said if you buy it, you have to offer the buffet every day again,” Bernard Bunn said.

They also plan to start “Toasty Tuesdays,” with specials on their toasted sandwiches on a particular day of the week to be announced. Eventually they plan to extend the restaurant’s hours and stay open later.

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