Located at the corner of Highway 2 and Division, DISH is a quintessentially Sandpoint restaurant — funky and family-friendly, with a little play area for kidlets, open seating, lots of light, and bright walls of lime, teal and avocado. There’s a good buzz about the place, which focuses on “affordable gourmet dining for the whole neighborhood,” according to owners Gary and Laura Peitz.
The menu holds a mix of traditional American comfort foods and unexpected spices from Cajun to curry, all served with gourmet panache.
Breakfast reflects the southern stylings of Chef Gabe Cruz (formerly of Café Trinity and Chimney Rock), with dishes like crawfish etouffee benedict ($10), served with a heap of homefries. The Almost Joe’s features sausage from local Woods Meats, as well as herbed mushrooms, spinach and Asiago cheese ($8.45). Pancakes Banana’s Foster ($9) — topped with a sauce made of orange juice, brown sugar, Myers rum, bananas and butter — will appeal to your sweet side while house-made organic granola ($5) packs plenty of energy.
For lunch, make friends with the Rachel — hot, thin-sliced turkey breast with melted Fontina cheese on grilled rye with slaw ($8.45). Salads range from traditional Caesar ($5) to the JFK ($10), with dried cranberries and apricots, toasted walnuts, Stilton cheese, red onion, bacon and baby mixed greens. Both the curry chicken potpie ($9) and capellini pesto ($10) include Dish’s rotisserie chicken, which will be featured in the dinner menu slated to come online later this spring.
Many breakfast and lunch items are available at the drive-thru, which opens at 6 am daily and features Doma coffees served by a proper barista, not some fly-by-night coffee-cutie in your average drive-up window. There’s also a to-go menu, giving new meaning to the idea of “home-cooked” as your family will be impressed with the gourmet meal you were clever enough to pick up on your way home.
— CARRIE SCOZZARO
Dish, at 1319 Highway 2, Suite A, Sandpoint, Idaho, is open daily 7 am-2 pm; drive-thru opens at 6 am. Visit www.sandpointdish.com or call (208) 265-6100.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Downtown burritos
We’re not sure how we missed this for so long. Our California-Style Burrito Sensors are usually carefully attuned to the proximity of tightly packed meat and beans. (We rejoiced with the arrival of Taco Del Mar at River Park Square, then went nuts when De Leon’s opened a satellite bistro on Lincoln last year.) But on Jan. 22, a new burrito joint slipped in under the radar at the old Taste of Asia/Zip’s on Third Avenue.
ATILANO’S is spacious, in more ways than one. Take a look at the menu. There are 75 items on there — burritos, tacos, tortas, tostadas, combos, specials, kids’ stuff — plus 14 side orders, including (strangely) tater tots and French fries. There are even seven breakfast burritos choices, like machaca, chorizo and bacon. And it’s all cheap as hell. Lunch with a giant paper-wrapped burrito and a medium horchata will run you just a little over $6.
“Have you ever been to San Diego?” a guy in line asks me. I tell him I went to college in southern California. “These are the closest I’ve had to what they make down there,” he says.
Patricia Gonzalez doesn’t put a regional tag on the food they serve. Just Mexican, she says. The 19-year-old is one of three employees at Atilano’s, which is owned by Atilano Gonzalez, who operates Atilano’s I in Coos Bay, Ore. (The Spokane store is Atilano’s III; the second store, also in Oregon, closed.) Patricia commands the counter while cousin Efrain and another man work the kitchen and tend to the steady clanging of the bell at the drive-thru window. “Almost everybody is family, except for the guy in the back,” she says. “But we treat him like he’s part of the family.”
Patricia says they’ll need two more employees before they can live up to the ambitiously optimistic hours printed on their take-out menu: Fridays and Saturdays, open until 3 am. As it is, they’re staying open until midnight seven days a week. Patricia says it’s often busy.
At least there’s plenty of seating. The dining room is weirdly huge, with 40 chairs and five benches. All look like they were bought used from some fast-food stop in the mid-’80s — pink, turquoise, stiff, uncomfortable. In between are acres of empty space. One small chair/table combo sits all alone. Elsewhere, two chairs are arranged side by side, facing a wall.
The mise-en-scene is a little disjointed, but it works as it recalls so many of the little family-owned burrito joints that dot places like southern California. “This place has to survive,” says the guy from the San Diego, as he steps up to the counter.
Atilano’s, 725 W. Third Ave., is open Mon-Sat 6 am-midnight, Sun 8 am-midnight. Call 838-7677.
ATILANO’S is spacious, in more ways than one. Take a look at the menu. There are 75 items on there — burritos, tacos, tortas, tostadas, combos, specials, kids’ stuff — plus 14 side orders, including (strangely) tater tots and French fries. There are even seven breakfast burritos choices, like machaca, chorizo and bacon. And it’s all cheap as hell. Lunch with a giant paper-wrapped burrito and a medium horchata will run you just a little over $6.
“Have you ever been to San Diego?” a guy in line asks me. I tell him I went to college in southern California. “These are the closest I’ve had to what they make down there,” he says.
Patricia Gonzalez doesn’t put a regional tag on the food they serve. Just Mexican, she says. The 19-year-old is one of three employees at Atilano’s, which is owned by Atilano Gonzalez, who operates Atilano’s I in Coos Bay, Ore. (The Spokane store is Atilano’s III; the second store, also in Oregon, closed.) Patricia commands the counter while cousin Efrain and another man work the kitchen and tend to the steady clanging of the bell at the drive-thru window. “Almost everybody is family, except for the guy in the back,” she says. “But we treat him like he’s part of the family.”
Patricia says they’ll need two more employees before they can live up to the ambitiously optimistic hours printed on their take-out menu: Fridays and Saturdays, open until 3 am. As it is, they’re staying open until midnight seven days a week. Patricia says it’s often busy.
At least there’s plenty of seating. The dining room is weirdly huge, with 40 chairs and five benches. All look like they were bought used from some fast-food stop in the mid-’80s — pink, turquoise, stiff, uncomfortable. In between are acres of empty space. One small chair/table combo sits all alone. Elsewhere, two chairs are arranged side by side, facing a wall.
The mise-en-scene is a little disjointed, but it works as it recalls so many of the little family-owned burrito joints that dot places like southern California. “This place has to survive,” says the guy from the San Diego, as he steps up to the counter.
— JOEL SMITH
Atilano’s, 725 W. Third Ave., is open Mon-Sat 6 am-midnight, Sun 8 am-midnight. Call 838-7677.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Spring wining
March can be a miserable month, with weather that makes us wonder why we choose to live in this little corner of the world. Ah, but this March is also Washington Wine Month, we hear, and that’s enough to perk up even the most die-hard curmudgeon. Even though the month is nearly gone, we still have a couple of good opportunities to celebrate the occasion.
At the LUNA WINE CELLAR DINNER on Sunday, they’ll be drawing Washington vintages from the restaurant’s extensive cellar to pair with five courses (plus dessert) created by Chef Anna Vogel. The 2007 white blend from Walla Walla’s Buty Winery — Semillon, sauvignon blanc and muscadelle — leads off, paired with seared diver scallops, a potato and green onion cake, and watercress foam. And that’s just the first course. Selected wines include Barrister’s Rough Justice (a blend of cabernet sauvignon, syrah, merlot and cabernet franc) and Robert Karl’s 2006 Horse Heaven Hills Merlot. Northwest mushrooms, roasted lamb and kobe beef all have a place on the menu as well.
On Monday, Vino! teams up with 360 (the former Fugazzi) for a WINE DINNER featuring the vintages of Walla Walla’s Pepper Bridge Winery and its sibling, Amavi Cellars. Pepper Bridge focuses exclusively on cabernet sauvignon and merlot grown in the Pepper Bridge and Seven Hills vineyards; Amavi also offers a cab, along with syrah, Semillon and a rosé. Both estate wineries are owned and operated by members of the Goff, Pellet and McKibben families; partner Ray Goff will be on hand to discuss the wineries and the wines served. Three Spokane chefs — Jeremy Hansen of Santé, Mike Jones of Mizuna, and David Lee, the newly appointed executive chef of 360 — have joined forces for a six-course extravaganza, and each course will be paired with a wine from either Amavi or Pepper Bridge. Salami made at Santé, plus seared duck breast and a rosemary-smoked grilled ribeye are among the highlights, along with a dessert course of made-from-scratch ice creams.
It’s enough to make you wish that March would last a little longer.
— ANN M. COLFORD
The Wine Cellar Dinner at Luna, 5620 S. Perry St., is Sunday, March 29, at 6 pm. Cost is $65 per person plus tax and gratuity. Reserve via credit card at 448-2383.
Pepper Bridge and Amavi wine dinner at 360, 1 N. Post St., will be Monday, March 30, at 6 pm. $95 per person. Reserve through Vino!; call 838-1229.
At the LUNA WINE CELLAR DINNER on Sunday, they’ll be drawing Washington vintages from the restaurant’s extensive cellar to pair with five courses (plus dessert) created by Chef Anna Vogel. The 2007 white blend from Walla Walla’s Buty Winery — Semillon, sauvignon blanc and muscadelle — leads off, paired with seared diver scallops, a potato and green onion cake, and watercress foam. And that’s just the first course. Selected wines include Barrister’s Rough Justice (a blend of cabernet sauvignon, syrah, merlot and cabernet franc) and Robert Karl’s 2006 Horse Heaven Hills Merlot. Northwest mushrooms, roasted lamb and kobe beef all have a place on the menu as well.
On Monday, Vino! teams up with 360 (the former Fugazzi) for a WINE DINNER featuring the vintages of Walla Walla’s Pepper Bridge Winery and its sibling, Amavi Cellars. Pepper Bridge focuses exclusively on cabernet sauvignon and merlot grown in the Pepper Bridge and Seven Hills vineyards; Amavi also offers a cab, along with syrah, Semillon and a rosé. Both estate wineries are owned and operated by members of the Goff, Pellet and McKibben families; partner Ray Goff will be on hand to discuss the wineries and the wines served. Three Spokane chefs — Jeremy Hansen of Santé, Mike Jones of Mizuna, and David Lee, the newly appointed executive chef of 360 — have joined forces for a six-course extravaganza, and each course will be paired with a wine from either Amavi or Pepper Bridge. Salami made at Santé, plus seared duck breast and a rosemary-smoked grilled ribeye are among the highlights, along with a dessert course of made-from-scratch ice creams.
It’s enough to make you wish that March would last a little longer.
— ANN M. COLFORD
The Wine Cellar Dinner at Luna, 5620 S. Perry St., is Sunday, March 29, at 6 pm. Cost is $65 per person plus tax and gratuity. Reserve via credit card at 448-2383.
Pepper Bridge and Amavi wine dinner at 360, 1 N. Post St., will be Monday, March 30, at 6 pm. $95 per person. Reserve through Vino!; call 838-1229.
Browne's addiction
“Hello. My name is M.C., and I am addicted to caffeine.”
That’s the first step, I hear. But my addiction hasn’t been a problem — although now that TULLY’S newest location is walking distance from my apartment, it might be. They’ve got bags of whole beans for my grinder and pods for my Keurig, including one of my fair trade favorites: the nicely balanced Evergreen Blend ($14 for 24 pods).
Dave Tawney owned Cabin Coffee, across Cannon Street, but he jumped at the opportunity to open a Tully’s franchise in the space adjacent to Pacific Avenue Pizza, which he also owns. “It’s just better coffee,” he says.
And Tully’s is not your classic franchise, he says. It’s not publicly traded, it’s a regional company rather than an international corporation, and the beans are still hand-roasted in small batches in Seattle. Comparing Tully’s to a certain ubiquitous Seattle-based coffee company, he says, is “like comparing Two Wheel Transit to General Motors.”
Ginny Tawney, Dave’s mother, manages this location, though the family owns and operates two other Tully’s locations as well. She appreciates the atmosphere of the new location, including a gas fireplace: “It’s warm and cozy,” she says. “Cabin was cozy, but you could hear everyone’s conversation.” In the new location, a larger room accommodates more intimate conversation along with the smooth jazz.
Her favorite? “That would have to be the vanilla mocha breve. Iced,” she says. (That’s an iced mocha made with half-and-half instead of milk.) “I’ve been drinking it for years — I can’t get away from it.”
She also got me hooked on my new favorite drink: an iced mocha, made with regular milk then topped with a touch of half-and-half rather than whipped cream. Both drinks are rich, sweet and addicting.
In addition to the coffee drinks, you can get a healthy-sounding fruit smoothie like “The Antioxidant” ($4.25, venti), made with yerba mate, acai, blueberry and pomegranate. It’s low in caffeine and loaded with vitamins, minerals and — yes — antioxidants.
If Pacific Avenue Pizza isn’t open yet, there’s the Breakfast Sandwich ($3) — a sausage patty with egg and cheese on a croissant — and other sandwich options, plus a selection of pastries from Sweetwater ($2-$3), such as the pumpkin bar and cinnamon-swirl loaf.
Writing this has been great fun, but I’ve got to go to Tully’s. I need my coffee. Now.
— M.C. PAUL
Tully’s Coffee House, 2001 W. Pacific Ave., is open Mon-Fri 6 am-9 pm, Sat 7 am-9 pm, Sun 7:30 am-7 pm. Visit www.tullys.com or call 747-3088.
That’s the first step, I hear. But my addiction hasn’t been a problem — although now that TULLY’S newest location is walking distance from my apartment, it might be. They’ve got bags of whole beans for my grinder and pods for my Keurig, including one of my fair trade favorites: the nicely balanced Evergreen Blend ($14 for 24 pods).
Dave Tawney owned Cabin Coffee, across Cannon Street, but he jumped at the opportunity to open a Tully’s franchise in the space adjacent to Pacific Avenue Pizza, which he also owns. “It’s just better coffee,” he says.
And Tully’s is not your classic franchise, he says. It’s not publicly traded, it’s a regional company rather than an international corporation, and the beans are still hand-roasted in small batches in Seattle. Comparing Tully’s to a certain ubiquitous Seattle-based coffee company, he says, is “like comparing Two Wheel Transit to General Motors.”
Ginny Tawney, Dave’s mother, manages this location, though the family owns and operates two other Tully’s locations as well. She appreciates the atmosphere of the new location, including a gas fireplace: “It’s warm and cozy,” she says. “Cabin was cozy, but you could hear everyone’s conversation.” In the new location, a larger room accommodates more intimate conversation along with the smooth jazz.
Her favorite? “That would have to be the vanilla mocha breve. Iced,” she says. (That’s an iced mocha made with half-and-half instead of milk.) “I’ve been drinking it for years — I can’t get away from it.”
She also got me hooked on my new favorite drink: an iced mocha, made with regular milk then topped with a touch of half-and-half rather than whipped cream. Both drinks are rich, sweet and addicting.
In addition to the coffee drinks, you can get a healthy-sounding fruit smoothie like “The Antioxidant” ($4.25, venti), made with yerba mate, acai, blueberry and pomegranate. It’s low in caffeine and loaded with vitamins, minerals and — yes — antioxidants.
If Pacific Avenue Pizza isn’t open yet, there’s the Breakfast Sandwich ($3) — a sausage patty with egg and cheese on a croissant — and other sandwich options, plus a selection of pastries from Sweetwater ($2-$3), such as the pumpkin bar and cinnamon-swirl loaf.
Writing this has been great fun, but I’ve got to go to Tully’s. I need my coffee. Now.
— M.C. PAUL
Tully’s Coffee House, 2001 W. Pacific Ave., is open Mon-Fri 6 am-9 pm, Sat 7 am-9 pm, Sun 7:30 am-7 pm. Visit www.tullys.com or call 747-3088.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Neighborhood Flavor
I first heard about the MAPLE STREET BISTRO sometime last year but somehow didn’t get there to check it out until recently. I felt even more sheepish when I learned that the sweet little cottage-y café has been open since August 2007, serving sandwiches, salads, smoothies and sweet treats to north-side travelers cruising Maple between Francis and Wellesley. Fortunately, owner Henry Cohrs is a forgiving sort.
“The building has been here for about five or six years,” he says with a shrug, “so a lot of people don’t know we’re new.”
Cohrs runs the place with his wife, Dezy, and a team that includes several family members. The light and airy café felt cozy on a cold rainy day, but the pergola-covered patio holds the promise of warmer days to come.
The menu appears on chalkboards that hang above the kitchen area, high up near the vaulted ceiling. Breakfast items include sandwiches ($4.79) and a wrap filled with ham, bacon, cheese and vegetables ($5), plus fruit-and-yogurt parfaits and fresh-baked sweet treats. All of the baked goods — including scones, cookies, oat-fruit bars and oversized cinnamon rolls oozing with thick icing — are made from scratch right there, says Cohrs, who holds a culinary arts degree from Spokane Community College. My cinnamon-vanilla scone had a good crumb and crust, while the chocolate chip cookie — about 4 inches around — was slightly soft and filled with mini chips.
Both treats had the unmistakable flavor of butter, and neither was overly sweet.
“All of our baked goods are made with real butter, real cream,” he says. “That’s one of our personal goals — to make sure that the food we serve is not only good but healthy at the same time.”
For lunch, you’ll find tossed salads (including Cobb and Asian chicken), deli sandwiches and panini sandwiches ($4.79, half; $7.79, whole), served with pickle or pepperoncini and chips. Everything is prepared and assembled to order, and all menu items are available all hours.
Cohrs strives to buy local — bread from Petit Chat, seasonal produce from Dan Jackson, coffee from Anvil — and really be part of the neighborhood. After all, he lives right around the corner and walks to work every day.
“We consider it more of a family-run community store,” he says. “It’s been a growing process, a sense of involvement with our customers. It’s never been about just us trying to run a business.”
— ANN M. COLFORD
The Maple Street Bistro, at 5520 N. Maple St., is open Mon-Fri 6 am-6 pm, Sat-Sun 7 am-5 pm. Fax 479-0264 or call 443-3129.
“The building has been here for about five or six years,” he says with a shrug, “so a lot of people don’t know we’re new.”
Cohrs runs the place with his wife, Dezy, and a team that includes several family members. The light and airy café felt cozy on a cold rainy day, but the pergola-covered patio holds the promise of warmer days to come.
The menu appears on chalkboards that hang above the kitchen area, high up near the vaulted ceiling. Breakfast items include sandwiches ($4.79) and a wrap filled with ham, bacon, cheese and vegetables ($5), plus fruit-and-yogurt parfaits and fresh-baked sweet treats. All of the baked goods — including scones, cookies, oat-fruit bars and oversized cinnamon rolls oozing with thick icing — are made from scratch right there, says Cohrs, who holds a culinary arts degree from Spokane Community College. My cinnamon-vanilla scone had a good crumb and crust, while the chocolate chip cookie — about 4 inches around — was slightly soft and filled with mini chips.
Both treats had the unmistakable flavor of butter, and neither was overly sweet.
“All of our baked goods are made with real butter, real cream,” he says. “That’s one of our personal goals — to make sure that the food we serve is not only good but healthy at the same time.”
For lunch, you’ll find tossed salads (including Cobb and Asian chicken), deli sandwiches and panini sandwiches ($4.79, half; $7.79, whole), served with pickle or pepperoncini and chips. Everything is prepared and assembled to order, and all menu items are available all hours.
Cohrs strives to buy local — bread from Petit Chat, seasonal produce from Dan Jackson, coffee from Anvil — and really be part of the neighborhood. After all, he lives right around the corner and walks to work every day.
“We consider it more of a family-run community store,” he says. “It’s been a growing process, a sense of involvement with our customers. It’s never been about just us trying to run a business.”
— ANN M. COLFORD
The Maple Street Bistro, at 5520 N. Maple St., is open Mon-Fri 6 am-6 pm, Sat-Sun 7 am-5 pm. Fax 479-0264 or call 443-3129.
Positive Pizza
"Upbeat" is a good word to describe the atmosphere at MACKENZIE RIVER PIZZA, located at Highway 95 and Canfield in Coeur d’Alene. Mackenzie might even give the nearby Olive Garden a run for its money.
MacKenzie offers a well-dressed package, typical of its parent company, Glacier Restaurant Group (which last year brought Ciao Mambo to Hayden). Expect a clean, semi-bright urban lodge: raw pine and brick, dark greens and browns, images of fly fishermen, suspended lighting, a perimeter of well-partitioned booths and open high-top seating along the handsome bar.
Although it looks like a chain, it feels friendly and almost local, with an abundance of servers and a family-friendly, boisterous vibe.
“The training to get in here was intense,” says server Brittany Wilson. Indeed, Glacier’s restaurants are known for their service, which was excellent the night we visited.
“We expect our employees to have an upbeat approach to life, and to come to work filled with positive energy,” intones MacKenzie’s Website. “Our guests can feel the difference.”
MacKenzie ups the ante with a range of sandwiches, salads and pasta like the Broadwater Bag — roasted chicken, basil-marinated tomatoes, prosciutto, garlic chunks and herbed olive oil over bowtie pasta ($12). Starters range from wings ($8) to Lodgepoles, their version of breadsticks ($3.75), to Rollino ($6.50) — pizza crusts of pepperoni, basil and mozzarella, served with marinara.
The Maverick sandwich ($8.50) features MacKenzie’s trademark bread — warmed sourdough or natural grain — topped with sliced beef, onions, peppers, mushrooms and provolone. Panini sandwiches like the chicken pesto ($9) or turkey pear ($8.50) sound good, too.
But how is the pizza? The Athenian (garlic, spinach, sliced tomato, roasted red onion, Kalamata olives, feta cheese) was full of flavor. Options range from the traditional Stockman (beef, pepperoni, bacon, sausage) to the Southwest-influenced Bell Ranch (fajita chicken, barbecue sauce, black beans, onion, jack cheese) to the outlandish Jamaican Jerk Chicken. All 21 standard pizzas and the create-your-own offering are available in small or large ($6.50-$15.25), with a slight upcharge for thin crust.
— CARRIE SCOZZARO
MacKenzie River Pizza Company, 405 W. Canfield Ave., Coeur d’Alene, is open daily 11 am-9 pm (Fri-Sat until 10 pm). Visit mackenzieriverpizza.com or call (208) 772-5111.
MacKenzie offers a well-dressed package, typical of its parent company, Glacier Restaurant Group (which last year brought Ciao Mambo to Hayden). Expect a clean, semi-bright urban lodge: raw pine and brick, dark greens and browns, images of fly fishermen, suspended lighting, a perimeter of well-partitioned booths and open high-top seating along the handsome bar.
Although it looks like a chain, it feels friendly and almost local, with an abundance of servers and a family-friendly, boisterous vibe.
“The training to get in here was intense,” says server Brittany Wilson. Indeed, Glacier’s restaurants are known for their service, which was excellent the night we visited.
“We expect our employees to have an upbeat approach to life, and to come to work filled with positive energy,” intones MacKenzie’s Website. “Our guests can feel the difference.”
MacKenzie ups the ante with a range of sandwiches, salads and pasta like the Broadwater Bag — roasted chicken, basil-marinated tomatoes, prosciutto, garlic chunks and herbed olive oil over bowtie pasta ($12). Starters range from wings ($8) to Lodgepoles, their version of breadsticks ($3.75), to Rollino ($6.50) — pizza crusts of pepperoni, basil and mozzarella, served with marinara.
The Maverick sandwich ($8.50) features MacKenzie’s trademark bread — warmed sourdough or natural grain — topped with sliced beef, onions, peppers, mushrooms and provolone. Panini sandwiches like the chicken pesto ($9) or turkey pear ($8.50) sound good, too.
But how is the pizza? The Athenian (garlic, spinach, sliced tomato, roasted red onion, Kalamata olives, feta cheese) was full of flavor. Options range from the traditional Stockman (beef, pepperoni, bacon, sausage) to the Southwest-influenced Bell Ranch (fajita chicken, barbecue sauce, black beans, onion, jack cheese) to the outlandish Jamaican Jerk Chicken. All 21 standard pizzas and the create-your-own offering are available in small or large ($6.50-$15.25), with a slight upcharge for thin crust.
— CARRIE SCOZZARO
MacKenzie River Pizza Company, 405 W. Canfield Ave., Coeur d’Alene, is open daily 11 am-9 pm (Fri-Sat until 10 pm). Visit mackenzieriverpizza.com or call (208) 772-5111.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
A new roast
Here one day, gone the next. That’s not unusual in the restaurant business, even more so in challenging economic times. It happens to the best of places, even RUSTLER’S ROOST, which has stood at Hayden Avenue and Highway 95 in Hayden, Idaho, since 1991. It was the second of two locations for owner Daren McEvers and his brother Woody. The original downtown Coeur d’Alene location (opened in the ’80s) closed some years back, but the Highway 95 location and the catering business continued, flourishing as a local favorite.
So when the owner of the Hayden building announced plans to sell, the brothers considered their options. Buy and renovate, or build new? Nothing penciled out, though, says Woody McEvers, who is also a Coeur d’Alene city councilman. Then the opportunity arose to relocate just across the parking lot from the old location, giving travelers on Highway 95 reason to do a double take as if the Roost just up and… uh, flew the coop.
Although they no longer have banquet facilities, says McEvers, working with the developer allowed them to maintain the rustic feel of the old place while installing all new, more efficient kitchen equipment. They reused or rebuilt most of the old furniture, carrying over all the western antiques and saloon-style decorations.
The familiar smell of Market Spice Tea — from Seattle’s Pike Place Market, and available for purchase, along with Rustler’s own brand of barbecue sauce — will entice you. On a Sunday, bring the paper and sip your coffee as you wait for a booth or seat along the counter. It’s a low-key locale that’s big on service and making you feel at home.
Down-home style is their specialty. The “famous country breakfast” is served all day ($5-$10), with names like the Rawhide or Wrangler (three eggs, four bacon strips, home fries, biscuits and gravy) and tasty eggs benedict atop slow-cooked pit ham. Lunch is burgers, sandwiches, house-made soup or chili, salads and platters of home-style treats like meatloaf or roast turkey (most $6-$8). The only change you will see someday soon is the return of dinner service several days a week, with items like the popular barbecue ribs — served up with a smile, of course.
— CARRIE SCOZZARO
Rustler’s Roost, 9627 N. Highway 95, Hayden, Idaho, is open daily 6 am-2 pm. Visit www.rustlersroost.com or call (208) 772-6613.
So when the owner of the Hayden building announced plans to sell, the brothers considered their options. Buy and renovate, or build new? Nothing penciled out, though, says Woody McEvers, who is also a Coeur d’Alene city councilman. Then the opportunity arose to relocate just across the parking lot from the old location, giving travelers on Highway 95 reason to do a double take as if the Roost just up and… uh, flew the coop.
Although they no longer have banquet facilities, says McEvers, working with the developer allowed them to maintain the rustic feel of the old place while installing all new, more efficient kitchen equipment. They reused or rebuilt most of the old furniture, carrying over all the western antiques and saloon-style decorations.
The familiar smell of Market Spice Tea — from Seattle’s Pike Place Market, and available for purchase, along with Rustler’s own brand of barbecue sauce — will entice you. On a Sunday, bring the paper and sip your coffee as you wait for a booth or seat along the counter. It’s a low-key locale that’s big on service and making you feel at home.
Down-home style is their specialty. The “famous country breakfast” is served all day ($5-$10), with names like the Rawhide or Wrangler (three eggs, four bacon strips, home fries, biscuits and gravy) and tasty eggs benedict atop slow-cooked pit ham. Lunch is burgers, sandwiches, house-made soup or chili, salads and platters of home-style treats like meatloaf or roast turkey (most $6-$8). The only change you will see someday soon is the return of dinner service several days a week, with items like the popular barbecue ribs — served up with a smile, of course.
— CARRIE SCOZZARO
Rustler’s Roost, 9627 N. Highway 95, Hayden, Idaho, is open daily 6 am-2 pm. Visit www.rustlersroost.com or call (208) 772-6613.
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