Steaks on low

Two years ago, Bill Alles had plans to turn his Spokane steak restaurant, Churchill’s, into a chain extending into Idaho and California. Now he’s just hoping to get the first location back on its feet.

In July 2008, a fire destroyed a neighboring business, Dorian Studio. Nine hours at 5,000 gallons of water per minute later, Churchill’s was still structurally sound but a complete mess.
Water and smoke damage shut down the restaurant just 11 months after its opening.

Then came waiting on the fire investigation, waiting on insurance companies — both of which Alles finally resolved last summer — and sorting out building plans. “It’s been a long struggle,” Alles says. “It’s been a difficult struggle to get from there to here.”

Reconstruction began in September, with Alles initially estimating a December opening date. Now he has reset his goal — he’d like to be open for the 2010 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, which begin on Jan. 14. His contractor, however, is estimating an end-of-January completion date.

When Churchill’s finally gets around to reopening, it will continue to brand itself as a high-end steakhouse. Expect to spend between $25 and $55 on a USDA prime steak entrée. Amid economic concerns, however, Alles will extend his price points downward.

“This time around, we’ll probably have some items around that are lower in price so that they’re more approachable, but we’ll still focus on our prime steak reputation in what we do,” he says.
That will include a “casual-focus” bar menu with steak sandwiches and burgers.

“There was the genuine air of elegance to the place before,” says Alles. “We used to have a grand piano as you walked in. It was immediately in front of you when you walked in, with someone playing the piano seven days a week.”

Alles hopes to recreate that atmosphere and iron out a few kinks in the process.

“The chairs I had before were so big, you could fit a suburban family of six in one,” he says. The new ones, he says, are a little more slick.

The entryway piano won’t be back, but there will be live Dixie-style New Orleans jazz played on a piano downstairs in the bar. — ERIKA PRINS

Churchill’s Steakhouse, 165 S. Post, will re-open in mid- to late January. Hours: 11 am-midnight.