By LEAH WEATHERSBY

This is a year of big changes on the Aurora Avenue restaurant scene. This past summer, the Twin Teepees restaurant, a local landmark since the 1937, was demolished after its owner was unable to reopen the business following a fire that gutted the building.

Now a second longtime establishment, Beth's Cafe, a fixture of the Green Lake area since 1954, is up for sale.

Beth's Cafe owner Larry Rains, 59, told the Jet City Maven that he has decided to put the restaurant up for sale for serious health reasons.

Rains' and his wife Karen purchased Beth's Cafe, along with a second eatery, located in the building next door, then known as Beth's Annex (now the Duck Island Saloon) in 1990. The couple used their savings (accumulated from over 25 years of working in the restaurant business) to buy the two businesses.

Beth's, which was named after one of the original owners, is a 24-hour restaurant which has catered to a varied clientele over the years. It appeals to those hungry enough to polish off one of the eatery's famous 12-egg omelettes and thirsty enough to finish with a large chocolate shake.

"It's extremely unpretentious," said Larry Rains. "It's always been perceived as some place with good value for the money."

Eventually, the Rains' also opened a second Beth's Cafe in Bothell and purchased the former Dog House restaurant in Belltown, which they promptly renamed the Hurricane Cafe. The Rains sold both of those restaurants last year.

However, according to Karen Rains, they have had no serious offers on the Beth's Cafe at Green Lake, which has been on the selling block since last spring.

"Because of (Beth's) reputation we thought we might get more response," said Karen Rains. She added that they recently decided to list the restaurant with a business broker as they did with their other two establishments.

"Our hope ... is that it will continue to be a Beth's," said Karen Rains, speaking of the restaurant's future under a new owner. Her husband agreed.

"That would be the wisest thing," said Larry Rains. "It's been successful for 41 years." Beth's Cafe is located at 7311 Aurora Ave N. (