Nelson Phelps finds niche in neighborhood restaurants
Three North Side friends and business partners are turning their penchant for good Northwest food into a growing group of popular neighborhood restaurants across the Spokane area.
Liz Nelson and her husband, Curt, have teamed up with longtime friend Todd Phelps in developing six restaurants over the past decade under Nelson Phelps Hospitality.
Their most recent acquisition was the S.S. Beryl, a neighborhood institution at 6404 N. Wall St., which they purchased in October.
The Beryl holds a special place for the Nelsons. They had their wedding rehearsal dinner there 26 years ago.
By the end of the month, they are also expecting to open a new Fieldhouse Pizza and Pub in Liberty Lake.
It will go along with two other pubs – the Fieldhouse Pizza and Tap House near Joe Albi Stadium and the Selkirk Pizza and Tap House at Wandermere.
Pizza is a specialty item at the Fieldhouse and Selkirk and will be at the new Liberty Lake location as part of wider menus.
Another member of the group is Morty’s Tap and Grille, which opened in 2007 at 5517 S. Regal St. on the South Side. It offers breakfast service with a wide variety on the menu.
The first Nelson Phelps restaurant was the Steelhead Bar and Grille, which opened a decade ago at 218 N. Howard St.
It attracts a range of customers, from shoppers and downtown workers to visitors and convention-goers.
“We are trying to emphasize a local and Northwest experience,” said Liz Nelson, and the formula has been working.
The key is trying to match customer preferences with affordable prices in an upbeat, comfortable environment. The brick interior of the Steelhead has an old industrial feel evoking Spokane’s past and is popular with visitors, Nelson said.
“We are from the Northwest and we know the community,” Liz Nelson said.
The company, which has up to 150 full- and part-time employees, has grown large enough that it is now developing a corporate headquarters at 706 N. Monroe St.
The building is known historically as the Vinther and Nelson Hardware Building and was recently recommended for the Spokane Register of Historic Places by the city-county landmarks commission. The nomination is awaiting City Council approval, Nelson said.
The building could eventually house group events and wine dinners. It will have its own kitchen for developing menu items and offering catering services. It will have space for staff training.
The company bought the building last March for $240,000, county records show. They will have invested at least twice that amount on renovation when work is finished, Nelson said.
Dan Gonzalez, who took culinary training at the Seattle Art Institute, has been hired as a corporate chef. The Spokane native trained in Europe and worked at top restaurants in Seattle before returning to his hometown. He worked at the Davenport Hotel, Wild Sage and South Perry Pizza before joining Nelson Phelps.
Shawn O’Brien, a childhood friend of Gonzalez, has also joined the company and will focus his attention on the Beryl and Steelhead, Nelson said.
O’Brien has a culinary degree from Spokane Community College and has worked in a number of successful establishments, including Manito Tap House and Downriver Grill.
The expansion to six restaurants has improved the company’s purchasing power and food inventory control, Nelson said. The new headquarters folds a number of parts of the business to a single location that is centrally located.
Nelson said their company business model has been to find niches in the restaurant scene for a varied clientele.
Some locations are oriented to serving families or sports teams quickly. The brew pubs on the North Side offer pizzas developed through extensive tasting, including a popular taco pizza. The Liberty Lake store will follow in that niche.
All of the restaurants have specialty cocktails, craft beer and fine wine selections.
The Steelhead bar stays true to its name by offering two smoked Columbia River steelhead appetizers and a steelhead entree.
Morty’s, which has selection of chicken wings, has become a popular neighborhood pub.
The Beryl is expected to remain as a comfortable dining establishment. Longtime employees are being retained and have been eager to help in the transition to new ownership, Nelson said.
The layout will undergo changes with more windows on the south wall opening to a remodeled patio for seasonal outdoor seating later this year.
Nelson said the company wants to retain the wood paneling and its cozy Beryl feel. Steak and seafood are still featured along with some new items. But the menu has been streamlined.
“We don’t want to change it,” Nelson said of the Beryl. “We want to update it.”
The Beryl started as the Spa Tavern in 1956 at 6307 N. Wall St., across the street from the Beryl location.
The tavern moved to the current location in 1960. Owner Elmer Leahy changed the name to Leahy’s Tavern in 1962 and then to The Beryl Tavern in 1968.
In 1982, the tavern was converted to S.S. Beryl as a steak and seafood house with a nautical theme.
Nelson, who had worked in human resources and marketing for Avista Corp., grew up on the North Side and met her husband, Curt, through a friend while in high school.
The two graduated together from North Central High School in 1981 and married a number of years later.
Curt Nelson operates Nelson Towing, Repair and Auto Body, a family business at 627 E. Francis Ave.
He is childhood friends with Todd Phelps, who graduated from Mead High School.
The Nelson
Liz Nelson said the company is not interested in expanding to other communities or creating a franchise. “Our goal is to provide service in the different niches between Spokane and Coeur d’Alene,” she said.