Flashback: Silver Grill Cafe

I couldn’t dig up a ton of info about this long-gone entry into the history book of North Idaho restaurants. However, at least we know a bit of romance happened there. According to an obituary from the CDA Press in 2005, “Elmer (Hawley) met his wife Patricia Bernasconi, of Sydney, Australia, at the Silver Grill Cafe in Coeur d’Alene. They were married 52 years until her death in July 2002.” Also, a January 9, 1952 Spokesman Review news article mentioned the Silver Grill Cafe as one of a handful of establishments allowed a new licence to house slot machines by the current city council, bringing the total number of slot machines in Coeur d’Alene to 193. They were likely one of the last places to be granted the right to hold these machines, as Mayor Gardner was quoted as saying he was “feeling the pressure of citizens opposed to any more machines going into the city”/Get Out! North Idaho. More here.

Question: Do you remember the Silver Grill Cafe?