Bruchi’s Expands Into Idaho With Coeur D’Alene, Sandpoint Stores

It’s 5 p.m. and I haven’t eaten since lunch (except for a peach and a KitKat candy bar).

I’m sitting at this computer, thinking about typing, but looking at a menu that includes cheesesteak sandwiches with marinated meats, grilled onions and green peppers.

And I’m supposed to keep my mind on work.

The only guys that suffer more than me are my editors, who edit this stuff at 7 p.m. and also haven’t eaten since noon.

That’s the price we pay for reporting how other people make their big bucks.

And some profit there must be in the big sandwich business.

Expanding with two new restaurants in North Idaho, Bruchi’s Cheesesteaks & Subs now boasts 16 locations in the Inland Northwest. Bruce Greene started the company in 1990 and now has eight corporate-owned stores and eight franchises.

The North Idaho stores, one opening this summer in Sandpoint and the other to open late next week in Coeur d’Alene, are owned by Larry Lindskog, a Spokane police officer.

Lindskog’s son Mike will manage the Coeur d’Alene store, at 2501 N. Fourth St. in what was the Chelsea’s Bar building. The place is being completely remodeled with Bruchi’s black, white and red theme.

Sandpoint’s Bruchi’s, sharing a building with the BeachMart Convenience Store, seats 34 customers in a facility at 116 N. First St., formerly a gas station. Brett Crosby is the manager.

Both stores employ about a dozen people and are open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Their menu (the one they faxed me that now has drool spots below my keyboard) includes a variety of cheesesteaks, submarine sandwiches, salads and specials.

Some places, such as the expanding Capone’s in Coeur d’Alene, call heated subs and cheesesteaks “grinders.”

Capone’s Sports Pub will become Capone’s Pub & Grill with the addition. A 1,000-square-foot addition to its historic building at 751 N. Fourth St. will include a kitchen (offering a full-service menu) and bathrooms. Seating will be expanded from 50 customers to 80.

“An East Side-style grinder,” explained Tom Capone, who owns the business with his wife Teresa, “essentially is a baked meat and cheese sub sandwich.”

Capone’s also will offer pizza, pastas, chicken wings, soups, salads and burgers when the expansion is complete in November. The number of microbeers on tap will increase from 19 to 31, and the number of employees from six to 10.

Taking advantage of the unique, angular building, which had been a donut shop and the Roadrunner Tavern under previous owners, the place’s decor combines turn-ofthe century and sports mementos.

Originally from New England and Texas respectively, Tom and Teresa came to North Idaho from Pasadena, Calif., where they worked for Hilton hotels. They were looking for “a good place to raise kids” with water sports and low crime, Tom said.

Moving its furniture manufacturing division to a new building near Highway 95 at Lancaster, Frick’s Fine Furniture is expanding its retail division by 5,000 square feet at its 7224 Government Way location, Hayden.

The expansion will give the 10-year-old company 20,000 square feet of retail space for its eclectic array of quality furniture, according to Todd Walker, who owns the company with his wife, Robyn Smith. Originally from Spokane, they came to North Idaho after graduating from the University of Washington.

They have 12 employees, and probably will add more, in their manufacturing division, which primarily constructs oak office and motel furniture, Walker said. They hope to move into the 9,000-square-foot building (near Tobler’s Marine) in early winter.

In the don’t-hold-your-breath category, several major Coeur d’Alene area construction projects have been put on hold.

So don’t get excited about: The Red Lobster, Village Inn restaurant and Best Western motel at Highway 95 and Neider; Albertson’s at Government Way and Prairie Avenue; and the Fred Meyer at Highway 95 and Kathleen. Construction may begin on these projects next year.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Nils Rosdahl The Spokesman-Review