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She has spent 27 years behind the same counter, but Ann Yi's devotion to the people in front of it hasn't changed.

Yi has owned and operated the Olympia Coffee Shop on Brookville Road in Chevy Chase since 1983, after moving to the U.S. from Seoul, South Korea in 1973. Yi's family — her brother Justin and her daughter Janice — help her run the diner, which serves daily an estimated 300 customers who sit at the tropical orange stools and tables.

Her customers run the gamut from famous guests like political commentator Chris Matthews, who Yi said prefers bacon and eggs or a grilled cheese sandwich, to construction workers grabbing coffee in the morning. But Yi, who lives in Silver Spring, does not care who comes through her doors. They all receive the same warm welcome.

"My customers are like my family," said Yi, 58, on a recent Monday after the breakfast rush. "I have to see them every day."

After moving to the U.S. at the age of 21, Yi's first job was working at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., where she cleared tables and worked in the kitchen. Before moving to the Washington area, Yi knew nothing about American food and pined for traditional Korean favorites like kimchi.

But at the National Press Club she picked up the basics from one of the cooks, and she put the new knowledge to use at her next job, an American restaurant at 19th Street and K Street in the District run by a Korean family. Yi worked there for eight years in the kitchen cooking and taking orders, and she even developed a taste for stereotypical American fare.

"Usually I liked to go to McDonald's," she said with a laugh.

Then in 1983, Yi was out eating lunch with a friend who suggested that Yi run her own eatery. She said a real estate broker overheard the conversation and offered to show her Olympia, whose owner wanted to sell. With some help from her mother, Yi bought Olympia, which is open seven days a week.

"It doesn't matter what. We're open every single day," she said.

Aside from some cosmetic alterations to the shop's front and the orange décor, she said she has not changed much about the restaurant. There are some distinctive touches of her own, such as the Yves St. Laurent sandwich — although whether the French fashion designer would have hunkered down with a sandwich featuring chicken breast, guacamole, provolone, bacon and pickles is anyone's guess. She simply likes the way the name sounds.

The restaurant now has its own Facebook page, a modern upgrade Yi prefers to the arcade games that used to line Olympia's walls, before children started bringing in Game Boys.

Initially, she said her customers consisted largely of local construction and landscape workers. But Yi has slowly seen more residents from Martin's Additions, Chevy Chase Section 3 and elsewhere. Today, she estimated that her customer base is split evenly between local workers and neighborhood residents. She is particularly attached to the older residents who come in every day for breakfast, as well as the children she watches grow up.

Before Holly Worthington, a Martin's Additions resident who has been coming to Olympia for 23 years, can even get to the counter, Justin Yi knows what she wants and is preparing her order. Ann Yi even keeps an eye on Worthington's son when he's in the shop, Worthington said. The Yi family also hosts and caters for community government events, she said.

Fresh flowers in a vase on the countertop from customers attest to their loyalty. At one point Yi turns around in a booth to ask a young woman behind her where her boyfriend is.

"She's the heart of the community, and the mother of the community," Worthington said.

Yi's daughter, Janice Wong, who lives with her mother in Silver Spring, began working at Olympia more than 25 years ago, taking orders and working the register. She is a nurse at Children's National Medical Center in the District but still comes in to help.

"My mom is a tough boss," Wong said with a laugh. "She's tough but she has a big heart."

The slower pace of construction work in the area has hurt Olympia a bit, but it doesn't depress Yi's energy. She is still behind the counter 365 days a year, and taking a vacation doesn't cross her mind.

"This is my home," Yi declared.