Argonne Corridor Needs Good Restaurants

I am in my car, waiting for the light to change at Trent and Argonne.

Looking over at the past and future Argonne Village, I spy something that I hope is not an optical illusion but a a sign of things to come.

On one of the high-tech billboards facing Trent from the back of Argonne Village is a picture of a giant lobster.

Could this mean that a new seafood restaurant is coming to the West Valley area? I hope so.

As a resident of the area, I know that our end of the Valley has received a generous allotment of fast food establishments along Argonne.

But it seems that all of the Valley’s new sit-down restaurants have opened up along Sprague, Pines or Sullivan. Somehow, Argonne and Trent were left out.

So the call goes out from this would-be patron to anybody who is interested in building a new restaurant in the Spokane Valley: Please take a good long look at Argonne Road and the Trent corridor.

We have some empty spaces, decorated presently with old cars sporting “for sale” signs, and some weed-choked lots that are just crying out for new restaurants.

I did a little bit of homework on this subject.

Consider this scenario: A West Valley resident, traveling home from the North Side via Bigelow Gulch Road, decides he is hungry and wants to stop for a bite to eat. But where?

Drive all the way down Argonne and if you can sneak past fast-food row without Junior spotting the golden arches from the back seat, you will soon come to the freeway interchange.

Stop just short of the freeway and you can choose between Denny’s or Marie Callendars. Pass over Interstate 90 and you have Perkins and Casa de Oro.

Turn around and sneak back along Argonne going north - pass those golden arches quickly before the cries in the back seat start up again! - and you have Wolffy’s or Longhorn Barbecue.

That is about it.

Now, another scenario: Our West Valley resident is heading home along Trent from the east end of the Valley.

If you didn’t turn off on Sullivan or Pines, you’re pretty much out of luck. There is not too much here.

You have the same basic choices as the driver coming from Bigelow Gulch.

I have some ideas for new restaurants in the West Valley area.

How about an Italian restaurant in one of the historic brick buildings in Millwood? I can just see the little candlelit tables sitting outside, covered with red checkered tablecloths. And I can smell the aroma of garlic and basil. Yum! Welcome to the West Valley’s new Olive Garden!

And how about an Onion restaurant somewhere in our area? We could use a Tomato Street, too.

We could use a High Nooner for the lunch crowd in a hurry, and maybe a Chinese restaurant like Mongolian Barbecue or China Inn.

How about adding a Dewey’s West on Argonne to the Dewey’s East we have on Sprague?

I have high hopes for the soon-tobe-opened Argonne Village.

Every time I drive past the construction, I wonder what restaurant will be going in there. I am fairly certain we will be pleasantly surprised.

The Spokane Valley Mall boasts a fine assortment of restaurants, invitingly spread out along its perimeter. Those there now seem to be quite busy and more restaurants are going up.

So I know that our Valley is restaurant conscious. And I know that planners and developers do give some thought to restaurants when they begin their projects. They are a necessary addition to any good shopping area.

There it would seem there is still plenty of time at Argonne Village and elsewhere in the West Valley area. With a little planning and foresight, we could compete with the other side of the Valley for a share of the fine dining business.