Northern Quest Casino expanding food service
Northern Quest Casino in Airway Heights might want to add “where the food never ends” to its “where the fun never ends” slogan.
Beginning Sept. 26, patrons of the Kalispell Tribe casino will have more foods to pick from and more places to sit and pig out when the casino opens its 59,000-square-foot addition. The doors are tentatively scheduled to open at 2 p.m.
The addition, at an estimated cost of $12 million, will increase the food-service areas from accommodating 215 customers to more than 550. The new all-you can-eat buffet area — which will seat 280 compared to the current 149 — will have seven different stations. Desserts, currently not made on site, will be made in the state-of-the-art kitchen.
Although the casino is closed from 5 to 9 a.m. daily, patrons will be able to eat at all times at a 24-hour café built next to the buffet area.
A 1,200-seat event center also has been added. The room, done in a soothing sea-foam green with 20-foot-high ceilings, has movable walls. It also will be used for private parties of as many as 800 guests.
A gift shop, also triple the size of the current gift shop, has been added.
The entire addition will be nonsmoking.
Jim Becker, hospitality director, said some of the performing acts the casino is working on booking are Blood, Sweat and Tears, The Four Tops, Air Supply and Russian comedian Yakov Smirnoff. A country series also is in the works.
Becker said he has been in contact with ESPN in hopes of booking boxing events.
An impressive new entrance is on the north side of the casino, which will grow from 90,000 to 149,000 square feet, or by about 60 percent.
Currently patrons must pass through the casino to get to the buffet area. Children under 18 are not allowed inside because they are prohibited from the gaming areas. With the addition, patrons can bypass the gaming areas and bring children to the restaurants.
The old buffet and lounge area will be turned into a sports bar that will seat 150 and a deli with a capacity of 25.
The sports bar, where smoking will be allowed, will be decorated with memorabilia focusing on Inland Northwest athletes.
The casino opened in December 2000 at a cost of $29 million. Eighteen months ago, a nonsmoking Pend Oreille Pavilion reception hall and gaming room were added.
The pavilion will be turned into a nonsmoking gaming area with an additional 200 new video slot terminals.
The casino employ about 700 and will add about 200 more workers when the addition opens. The monthly payroll is about $1 million, and the business spends about $700,000 monthly on goods and services.
Eighty-six percent of the casino’s vendors are local business people.
About 5,000 people visit the casino daily, and more than 1,000 eat at the buffet, which costs $11.95 per person and $9.95 for seniors.
Dining made easy
Dinners Ready, one of the make-and-bake stores that have sprouted in Spokane, is ready for business.
Co-owners Johnna and Tavis Throm, are having their official grand opening on Sept. 13 between 6 and 9 p.m. Demonstrations on how the concept works and food sampling are planned.
For those who don’t want to wait, the Throms already are taking clients on Thursdays and Fridays at 9:30 a.m., and 1 and 6 p.m. and Saturdays at 9:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. The session times won’t change after the grand opening.
The store is at 2632 E. 29th Ave., between Rosaurs and Scollard’s Dry Cleaning & Draperies.
After the store’s “soft opening,” walk-in traffic has been great, Tavis said.
“The No. 1 item has been the flank steak,” he said. “The margarita chicken has been huge.”
Clients can register for a session by phone at 533-6325 or 993-7514 or online at www.dinnersready.com. They select from the list of entrees, show up, follow the instructions, take it home, cook, and voila! – dinner’s ready.
The cost is $189 for 12 meals that feed six (or divide in half for 24 meals that feed three.)
At Class Act Cuisine, 3022 E. 57th Ave., Suite 15 (between Albertsons and the Spokane Public Library branch), co-owners Jenny Guthrie and Susan McLaughlin are keeping busy. They’re about to get busier when they open a North Side shop next Thursday at 9021 N. Indian Trail Road in the Sundance Plaza.
The south sessions are Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m., Thursday at 4 and 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 9 and 11:30 a.m. The north sessions will be Wednesdays at 9 a.m., Thursdays at 4 and 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 9 a.m.
Private parties (10-12) can be scheduled. The cost is $180 for 12 meals that feed six (also can be divided). The staff will cook the meals for you for an additional $40.
For more information call 443-8788 (south) or 467-4273 (north) or go to www.classactcuisine.com.