Wine, Dining At Winestein’z Hybrid Restaurant Goes Up On Sprague With Eclectic Menu
Business
No, the former Gloria Jean’s Coffee Bean on East Sprague isn’t reopening after being closed for a year.
It’s being transformed into a new eatery called Winestein’z, scheduled to open April 8.
As the name suggests, the restaurant will offer both wines and microbrew beers.
It will also feature an eclectic assortment of food - from threecheese and green chili quesadillas to beef stroganoff and duck jambalaya.
Ed Bice, operations manager, describes the restaurant at Sprague and Gillis as an American bistro.
“There’s nothing like this in the area,” he said.
One side will be “like an upscale English pub,” Bice said. The other will offer fine dining.
The pub side, which seats about 85 people, will have a bar with 26 microbrews on tap. A total of about 60 types of beer will be served, he said.
The microbrews, mostly from the Northwest, will include the Spokane Valley’s own Hale’s Ales and Portland’s Widmer. Northern Lights beer, brewed in Airway Heights, will also be used in cooking some of the dishes, Bice said.
“It’s not a typical pub where you get a beer and a hamburger,” Bice said.
The 24-foot bar is the only section restricted to those ages 21 and over.
The adjacent dining area will feature a menu of snacks and appetizers.
Examples of these dishes include deep-dish pizza, Buffalo wings and chicken satay with peanuts.
Patrons can also eat in the mezzanine above, next to the patio. Food can be grilled outside on the patio, which seats about 30.
A banquet room is also on the second floor. Bice said that sections or the entire upper floor can be rented out.
On the fine dining side of the restaurant, which seats about 65 people, a lunch counter doubles as a bar at night.
The dinner menu includes smoked chicken fettuccine, beer-battered halibut and fries and pork medallions with gorgonzola cream sauce. Prices will range from $9.99 to $13.99, Bice said.
However, the menu offerings may change frequently.
“We will not have a laminated menu,” Bice said. “We will constantly be doing fresh sheets.”
Salads, soups and sandwiches and other hot entrees will be served for lunch and will be priced between $3.95 and $6.95, Bice said.
Customers can also pick up a “gourmet-to-go” lunch at the drivethrough window.
Owners Paul and Terry Lindgren shut down the first free-standing Gloria Jean’s last March.
“We closed as soon as we got our beer license,” Paul Lindgren said.
The green trimming and espresso machines from the coffee shop will now become a part of the new venture.
Espresso and muffins will be served through the drive-through window starting at 7 a.m.
The restaurant will try to draw business professionals as well as families.
Bice said that the restaurant’s proximity to the University City Mall and the East Sprague Cinemas will make it convenient for customers to visit.
He also hopes that Winestein’z will draw people from outside the Spokane Valley, and that Valley residents won’t have to go to other areas to eat out.