Businesses open, remodel in strip mall

The strip mall at 30th and Regal on the South Hill is undergoing some changes.

In the past eight weeks, one new business has opened, and one has been renovated to serve customers 24 hours a day. Don Juan’s Tailoring, Alterations & Tuxedo Rentals opened this summer, and LeAnne Bonham, co-owner of the strip mall, said the business is doing well.

Olive Oilz, 2812 E. 30th, opened about eight weeks ago, in a small, 23-seat restaurant that was once Get-A-Burger and Durango’s Taco Shop.

“I’ve always wanted to have my own restaurant,” said Paula Horning, the restaurant’s owner.

Born and raised in Spokane, Horning returned to the area eight years ago to care for her ailing mother.

She missed the food she ate while she lived in San Francisco and wanted to bring some of those flavors to her Italian café, and her menu include items prepared with ingredients such as fennel, figs, pears, wild mushrooms and different flavored pestos.

Horning has two employees, including Kile Tansy, former executive chef of Ella’s Supper Club and Quinn’s.

The restaurant is proud of its panini and focaccia sandwiches, and also has dinner entrées such as cioppino or turkey scaloppini in fresh cranberry sauce. Tansy makes the desserts and breads.

Horning has a liquor license and said that the restaurant has a selection of wines and different microbrews.

“I care about all my ingredients and wine and liquor and customers,” Horning said.

At the other end of strip mall is Super Suds Car Wash, 2728 E. 30th Ave. Owned and operated by Bonham and her husband, Bret, the carwash has been renovated to offer customers a touchless wash to ride through without leaving their car.

The Bonhams, who have owned the carwash for three years and the strip mall for five, began to remodel the carwash last July, and since the busiest months in the car wash business are in January, February and March, the couple has time to work out any bugs from now until then.

“People wash their own cars in the summer,” LeAnne Bonham said.

Many of the renovations were done by the Bonhams, but they did get help from their contractor, Dave Coomes. They also asked the folks at Wallflowers, anther business in the strip mall, for advice about color combinations for the paint.

The carwash, which is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, features heated concrete floors to keep ice from forming during the colder months. Car washes range from $6 to $10, depending on what features the customer wants.

Although there is the new touchless car wash, the business has kept the stalls for customers to wash their own cars starting at $1.