New Restaurants Expand Variety Of Dining Options In Coeur D’Alene

Whoa! People no longer can complain about the lack of restaurant variety in the Coeur d’Alene area. In recent weeks several ethnic eateries have opened or been announced. And today you’ll read about four more new places that stress more of an “American” theme.

Get your map out and plot these for future meals:

An Applebee’s Grill & Bar at Hanley Avenue and Highway 95 (the building was a Ponderosa Restaurant).

Cousins’ Steak House at 1038 Northwest Boulevard, a new building planned between Coeur d’Alene Realty and Sims (etc.) law offices.

Schlotsky’s, a pizza-sandwich-soupsalad deli in front of Payless Drug in Ironwood Square.

Village Inn, a full-service restaurant at Highway 95 and Neider Avenue (across from Kmart).

Here’s a look at each:

Applebee’s Grill & Bar is named in that order because the restaurant chain stresses its food and family atmosphere above its beverage service. The restaurant plans to open its first Inland Northwest store in the former Ponderosa Steakhouse building across Hanley Avenue from Silver Lake Mall.

Applebee’s emphasizes local involvement, according to owner Lee Fritz from his office in Bremerton, Wash. The restaurant places a high profile on local heroes (athletes and community service workers, such as firemen) and uses their photos in the interior design.

The menu offers sandwiches, salads and soups for lunch and has a full dinner menu with nothing over $10, Fritz said. Applebee’s also offers a weekend brunch.

With 600 restaurants nationwide, Applebee’s has several restaurants in the Seattle and Portland markets and another in Bozeman, Mont. With its headquarters in Kansas City, the first restaurant was in Georgia. Fritz and his partner, Joe Lal of Sacramento, Calif., plan to open in Coeur d’Alene in late August with 100-125 employees. The restaurant will seat about 200 customers.

Fritz obtained the local liquor license from Ed Hatter, Burger King guru of the Inland Northwest. Fritz owns the Burger King franchises in the Seattle area.

Cousins’ Steak House will be an upscale family restaurant (5,000 square feet) on one acre about midpoint on Northwest Boulevard.

Owners and cousins Scott McIntosh of Park City, Utah, and Randy Wilbracht of El Toro, Calif., bought the property from Ray Gillette, owner of The Cedars Floating Restaurant in Coeur d’Alene. McIntosh discovered North Idaho as part of his hunting guide interest.

The building will emphasize a Northwest motif with wood accents and exposed beams, said Coeur d’Alene architect Monte Miller. It will include a 2,000-square-foot kitchen with top-of-the-line equipment.

Construction should start in July, and the restaurant should be open by the winter holidays. With lunch and dinner and beer and wine, the place will seat about 100 customers.

Schlotsky’s will be the first Inland Northwest franchise of a company boasting 500 stores, primarily in the Southwest. Other regional stores are in Portland and Victoria, B.C.

Coeur d’Alene owner Lynn Alexander described the restaurant as an upscale deli with gourmet pizzas, soups, salads and sandwiches. A breakfast is planned for the future.

The 2,200-square-foot store will seat 57 customers indoors and several on an eastside patio. It will offer a drive-through service. Construction should start in July, and 16-20 employees should be at work by winter.

The restaurant is designed with a 1940s grocery store motif, Alexander said. Four breads - rye, whole wheat, sourdough and jalapeno cheese - will be made daily.

Alexander came from Anchorage, where she was a financial analyst for Arco. Her mother, Jan Harkwell, will be her special helper. A second store is planned for NorthTown Mall in Spokane.

The City of Coeur d’Alene will consider the Village Inn restaurant in its project review meeting Thursday.

Information is sketchy, but the family-style restaurant would be part of the complex - including Red Lobster and a major motel - planned by the Magnuson family on property across Hanley Avenue from Kmart.

Some Village Inns are named Sizzler Restaurants in other locations.