Sawtooth Grill To Open Downtown

Lumberjack hamburgers. That’s what diners can expect at the Sawtooth Grill, the new restaurant that will be built near the north entry to River Park Square, across from Chevy’s Fresh Mex.

The $1.5 million restaurant will be the first of what is intended to become a national chain, co-founder and chief executive Jim Simonson said Wednesday at the site.

Sawtooth will feature gourmet burgers, hot dogs, chicken burgers, fish, salads and sandwiches in a dining room designed to look like the inside of a rustic mountain cabin.

Of the restaurant’s burgers, Simonton joked, “You’re probably going to need three napkins just to catch the juice running down your face.”

Simonson was previously the president of Restaurants Unlimited Inc., which owns Clinkerdagger in Spokane and Cutters, Palomino and Palisade in Seattle. He left in 1996. Cofounder Steve Hayter also worked at Restaurants Unlimited as the executive food and beverage director.

River Park Square was chosen as the first Sawtooth location over sites in Western Washington, Oregon and Minnesota, said Simonson, because of the quality of the project and the quality of the city’s work force. The Sawtooth Grill will employ about 80 people and have dining space for 164, plus a bar.

It will be competing with Red Robin, which is scheduled to open soon across Main from River Park Square. Simonson said there is room in the market for both hamburger places: “We think the guests will decide which they like better.”

Construction on the Sawtooth Grill is scheduled to begin next month, with an opening set for July.