Key eating: Where to dine in Spokane
Spokane’s dining scene is growing, diversifying and becoming more chef-driven – so much so that metropolitan media outlets are beginning to take note.
The Wall Street Journal included Spokane in a roundup of “6 Great Small Cities for Food Lovers” in 2015. And last year, the Los Angeles Times encouraged readers to “Wine and dine to your heart’s content in horn-of-plenty Spokane, Wash.”
Today, there are even more options to explore. From fine dining and farm-to-table to fast food, here are some of the highlights of Spokane’s “horn-of-plenty.”
Chef-driven
At chef Tony Brown’s Ruins, located in a vintage art deco diner on North Monroe Street, the themed menu changes pretty much every week. Popular menus might stick around another week or so. But, “I get bored,” Brown said. “So I like to switch it up.” One week the menu might be full of Southern fare. The next, Filipino. Ruins has offered Middle Eastern, British, Thai, Chinese, French, Italian and more. Sunday, it’s brunch, followed by ramen night. Monday, come in for McRuins, a popular once-a-week menu with cheap beers and the restaurant’s versions of fast-food favorites.
The menu also changes often at the elegant Inland Pacific Kitchen, opened by husband-and-wife restaurateurs Jeremy and Kate Hansen in late 2016 in the old Washington Cracker Co. building downtown. Here, ingredients are plated by hand or with tweezers. The focus is on creativity as well as whole, healthful foods. Experimentation is a value. Many ingredients are sourced locally, and dishes – made from scratch – carry a theme. “It’s food around story,” chef Jeremy Hansen said. Early menus offered all-white fare, Japanese-inspired cuisine and dishes centered around healing spices – all with striking presentation. Reservations are highly recommended.
Diners can put their dinners into the chef’s hands at Adam Hegsted’s Wandering Table in the Kendall Yards development. Guests let their server know how much they’d like to spend – from $25 to $65 per person, in $10 increments – and the chef will create a multi-course meal for the entire table. Everyone in the dinner party must participate – and make the kitchen aware of any allergies or dislikes. On the menu: modern American fare.
At Zona Blanca, the focus is on one of Chad White’s favorite Mexican dishes: raw, fresh fish cured in citrus juices. White, who appeared on Bravo’s “Top Chef,” loves ceviche for its brightness, freshness and flavor. He opened his ceviche counter, a new concept for Spokane, inside the Steel Barrel Tap Room in downtown’s Luminaria Building in spring 2016.
Downtown
The Hansens’ flagship restaurant, Sante Restaurant and Charcuterie, specializes in local, seasonal cuisine prepared with traditional French techniques. The ambiance is sophisticated yet approachable, and breakfast, lunch and dinner is served. Wait for a table in the elegant Butcher Bar off of the dining room in the Liberty Building.
For a more casual setting with the Hansens’ same attention to detail, there’s the elevated pub fare menu at their Hogwash Whiskey Den, located in the basement of the old Washington Cracker Co. building, or an assortment of biscuit sandwiches at their new walk-up counter eatery, Biscuit Wizard, in the Saranac Building, also home to the Hansens’ European-style Common Crumb Artisan Bakery.
Across the street from the Saranac, Boots Bakery and Lounge specializes in craft cocktails, coffee and vegan and gluten-free fare in a comfy and eclectic setting. Vintage wooden doors are fashioned into cozy booths. And old blenders, turned upside-down, serve as light fixtures. Have a cupcake or the famous pumpkin waffle with chai “butter.”
On West Main Avenue, Durkin’s Liquor Bar offers one of the best burgers in town – along with other kinds elevated American diner fare – in an turn-of-the-20th-century-inspired setting. Sit at the counter and watch the line cooks or opt for a cozy booth. Downstairs, the basement bar specializes in craft cocktails served by bartenders with beards and suspenders.
Churchill’s, on South Post Street, offers a world-class steakhouse experience, complete with table linens and a piano player in the basement bar every night of the week. Mizuna, on North Howard Street, specializes in vegetarian and vegan dishes, but there are plenty of options for discerning meat-eaters, too. Wild Sage American Bistro, on West Second Avenue, specializes in casual fine dining, including a gluten-free menu. Ingredients are locally sourced. Dishes are scratch-made. Reservations are highly recommended any night of the week.
The Spokane-based chain Twigs Bistro and Martini Bar has several nearby locations. The flagship on the third floor of River Park Square features a 1,200 square-foot landing overlooking the mall’s atrium and heart of the city. Fare is casual modern and American. For more than 40 years, Clinkerdagger, located in the old Flour Mill building, has offered spectacular views of the Spokane River alongside its classic and hearty American fare. Frank’s Diner serves casual eats from inside a vintage railway car. Zip’s, a regional fast-food chain, has multiple locations throughout the region, including downtown. Look for fish and chips, huckleberry milkshakes and, of course, a variety of burgers. And, since 1965, Dick’s Hamburgers has been serving up burgers, fries and shakes in the shadow of its iconic sign, which encourages people to “Buy the bagfull.”
Kendall Yards
Central Food, the first restaurant to move into this ever-growing neighborhood back in 2012, offers sweeping views of the city’s skyline from its perch on the north bluff of the Spokane River. Dishes feature local and seasonal ingredients. Look for pan-seared Idaho trout, mushroom terrine, lentil soup and an outstanding gourmet burger. Naturally leavened loaves of bread can be purchased to go. For wood-fired gourmet pizza with a thin and crispy crust, there’s Veraci. For coffee and pastries, there’s Paper and Cup, an outpost of the popular farmhouse-chic cafe Chaps on the southwest edge of town. Brain Freeze sells locally made ice cream in a variety of eclectic flavors such as Palouse Crunch, Malties Falcon and Rastachio. Hegsted’s Yards Bruncheon serves up modern American brunch, lunch and breakfast fare. Nearby, Bruncheonette, located just outside Kendall Yards on West Broadway Avenue, is run by husband-and-wife chefs Allen Skelton and Joile Forral. Wash down their chicken and waffles, tamale waffle or verde hash with a lavender mimosa or two.
South Hill
Luna – with its secret garden of a patio – is dedicated to exquisite, scratch-made dishes using locally sourced ingredients – some of which come from as close by as the vegetable patch out back. Decor is modern French country. Bread is baked in house. Pizza is wood-fired. At Casper Fry in the South Perry neighborhood, executive chef Mike McElroy draws on his expertise – gained from years of cooking in Texas and Louisiana – to create elevated Southern-inspired fare, such as gourmet fried chicken with subtle but complex layers of flavor. Ice cream is made like a science experiment at The Scoop, which uses liquid nitrogen and as few ingredients as possible. Flavors rotate and include favorites such as Nutella, fresh basil and Cinnachocashew with cinnamon, chocolate and salted cashews. Liege waffles are another specialty. Wisconsinburger serves big and juicy gourmet burgers inspired by the mom-and-pop burger joints in Wisconsin. Look, also for cheese curds and fried pickles alongside hearty hand-helds. There are 50 beers on draft at Manito Tap House, which serves elevated pub grub such as blackened macaroni-and-cheese and a bunch of different burgers. Republic Pi offers pizza for $10 on Tuesday and happy hour all day Sunday. Pizzas are wood-fired. Look, also, for a variety of appetizers and sandwiches.
University District
Nestled into a Craftsman-style home near Gonzaga University, cozy Clover is known for its scratch-made dishes featuring locally sourced ingredients, house-made breads and dressings, and high-end cocktails. For a more casual atmosphere, including outdoor seating along the banks of the Spokane River, there’s No-Li Brewhouse, which serves hearty pub grub along with beer brewed on site. There’s open mic every Wednesday night at nearby Geno’s, popular with students and soccer fans. The restaurant is an official member of American Outlaws, which is dedicated to cheering on U.S. national soccer teams. There’s trivia, too. Decor is modern. So is the American fare. Geno’s is part of a locally-owned family of restaurants that include the Elk and El Que in Browne’s Addition and Two Seven Public House on the South Hill.
More neighborhood nooks
In the heart of historic Browne’s Addition, just west of downtown, Italia Trattoria offers fine Italian fare with a modern twist. Mains include squid ink fettuccine, goat cheese ravioli and pappardelle lamb ragu. Weekend brunch is busy. Share zeppole, or Italian doughnuts, with maple cream before diving into a hearty farmer’s breakfast bowl with white beans, tomato ragu, eggs, and house-made Italian sausage. The eclectic Garland District is home to a couple of side-by-side gems: Ferguson’s Cafe, a classic diner and soda fountain, and Mary Lou’s Milk Bottle, an ice cream shop and cafe that’s shaped like an old-fashioned milk bottle. And in the Audubon neighborhood, find Downriver Grill, which offers approachable fine dining with Inland Northwest flare and a popular weekend brunch. Across the street, Flying Goat, lined with salvaged wood from a local 1910 grain elevator, specializes in gourmet pizza.
Ethnic cuisine
Try tibs, a beef stir-fry with onions and green peppers, or yemeshir kik we’t, a vegetarian dish of red lentils in berbere sauce, at Almaz Ainuu’s Queen of Sheba restaurant, which specializes in cuisine from her native Ethiopia. It’s located in a corner of the old Flour Mill building. For a Taste of India – chana masala, chicken curry, chicken vindaloo – head to North Division Street. Azar’s, on North Monroe Street, specializes in Middle Eastern cuisine; its gyros and hummus are particularly popular. There’s bibimbab and more at the no-frills but authentic Kim’s Korean Restaurant. For no-frills but authentic Mexican food, head to De Leon Foods Grocery and Deli on East Francis Avenue. Part grocery store, part panaderia, part lunch counter, this establishment makes its own soft corn tortillas, tamales and more. Go for the Taco Tuesday special: two shredded chicken and two carnitas tacos. Try them at its newly opened taco bar outpost on North Division Street near Whitworth University.