Poke Express opening in Wandermere ( and there will be boba! )

Poke Express is heading north. The small local chain of restaurants already has locations on S Grand and on Pines in the Valley, and now they will also have a new store very soon  in Wandermere at 12208 N Division Suite C, next door to the AT&T store. This new location will open for business on September 1st.

Poke Express features customizable Hawaiian poke bowls. Guests choose their own base (rice, spinach,etc... ) , then a protein ( salmon, tuna, tofu,etc... ) and then sides like vegetables and similar, sauces, toppings and drinks.

The existing Poke Express locations also feature Thai style rolled ice cream. But, this new location will be unique however. Instead of ice cream rolls, the Wandermere location will have a full menu of boba teas!

For more info on Poke Express, check out- http://pokeexpressspokane.com

And, follow the Wandermere location on Facebook at- https://www.facebook.com/Wandermere-Poke-Express-104086937620311/

Feast World Kitchen coming to Downtown Spokane

Work has begun on the former Artic Circle / Sushi Yama building in Downtown Spokane to convert it to a new use. And, this will not only be a new use for the building but also something new to all of Spokane.

The building, which is located at 1321 W. 3rd Ave. , is becoming Feast World Kitchen. It will be an incubator kitchen to celebrate and empower immigrants and former refugees here in Spokane. Feast World Kitchen is a program of the non profit Feast Collective and will showcase food from many different cultures, inviting in different immigrant and former refugee chefs to highlight their culture and improve upon their own small business skills.

With this model, the menu will be ever changing with the types of dishes changing nightly. The current plan is to be take out style restaurant to start out and eventually grow their dining room, making it a hub for cross-cultural community. The space may even continue to evolve with cook classes, food truck rallies and private events all possible one day.

Feast World Kitchen is currently scheduled to open sometime in the fall. The project is being spearheaded Dan Todd, owner of the Inland Curry pop-up and Ross Carper, owner of The Compass Breakfast Wagon food truck. Dan and Ross are joined by a group of partners and advisors who intend to lend their expertise to the immigrant and refugee chefs who come to use Feast World Kitchen.

But, because starting such a venture doesn't come cheep they have recently launched a fundraiser on Indiegogo to raise $25,000 towards their plan. This site is not affiliated with the project but if you think you might be interested in joining me in helping Feast World Kitchen get off the ground, check out their page on Indiegogo at-

http://indiegogo.com/projects/feast-world-kitchen#/

Also, follow along with their progress on Facebook at-

http://facebook.com/feast-world-kitchen-101919134509271

Pre-leasing underway at Downtown’s Parkview West Apartments

Pre-leasing is underway for Parkview West, a new 7 story urban apartment complex on the western edge of Downtown Spokane. Residents will be able to begin moving into the new apartments as soon as November or December.

The building, which is located at 1309 W First Ave. offers 50 apartments, with ground floor space that is available for restaurants, cafes, retail, etc... No word yet on exactly what will open there just yet however.

We’ll hopefully have a more in depth post about this building coming when it’s opening gets closer but for now info on the project can be obtained via their website at https://www.parkviewwestapts.com or their Facebook page at https://facebook.com/parkviewwestapt

Rents at Parkview West range from $1300 for a studio to $1950 for a 2 bedroom / 2 bath.

New Cambria Hotel to built on the West Plains

Another new hotel is coming to the growing West Plains. A franchise of the newer Cambria Hotel chain is now under development at 4611 S. Dowdy Rd. , nearby I-90, Spokane International Airport and the new Amazon Fulfillment Center.

Plans call for an upscale hotel with four stories and 91 rooms, presently set to open sometime in 2020. The Cambria Hotel brand is part of the larger Choice Hotels parent company, with the new Spokane location being owned by franchisee Mohinder & Paramjeet Brar, who do business as Brar Hotels Group,LLC. They also own and operate the Best Western Plus Lakefront in Moses Lake and have over 13 years of experience owning and operating hotels.

Per the press release, Cambria Hotels are designed for today's time-starved travelers looking for moments to people and places through modern conveniences. The Spokane Cambria Hotel will include-

-Immersive spa style bathrooms with Bluetooth mirrors.
-Contemporary and sophisticated guestrooms, complete with modern fixtures, abundant lighting  and plush bedding
-On-site dining featuring freshly made food. local craft beer on tap, wine, specialty cocktails and small bites.
-Multi-function meeting space
-State of the art fitness center
-Locally inspired design

"The Cambria brand is a perfect fit for a city like Spokane. which is thriving - not just as a business hub, but also as a destination for tourists looking to experience the Evergreen State" said Mohinder Brar, owner & developer with Brar Hotels Group,LLC.

To date their are about 40 Cambria Hotels open across the US in popular cities like Chicago, Dallas, LA, Nashville, New York, New Orleans, Phoenix and Washington D.C . The brand is on pace to break it's openings record for the second straight year and is fast approaching 50 open Cambria Hotels with over 100 locations total either open or already in the pipeline.

For more info on Cambria Hotels, check out their website at http://www.choicehotels.com/cambria

Exchange Publishing moves to new larger offices

Exchange Publishing is on the move. The company publishes a quarterly horse & ranch magazine, Horse Previews and the popular Exchange classified advertising paper among other publications announced they have recently moved into new office space on Trent Ave.

The company moved from their offices on 3rd in Downtown Spokane to new offices at 5111 E. Trent Ave. . The new offices are 1500 square feet larger then their previous space, and the move might even mean hiring additional staff. To show off the space they plan to host an open house on Thursday, August 22nd from 4-7, follow them for more info.

Also, Exchange Publishing recently won first place in general excellence for a " shopper " paper in North America for 2019 from the Association of Free Community Papers, a national origination. The Exchange paper can be found at all major grocery markets, gas stations & stores in Eastern Washington and parts of North Idaho. They are also online with the popular website- http://spokane.exchange 

Locust Cider & Brewing Co. to open a taproom in Downtown Spokane

Locust Cider & Brewing is expanding to Eastern Washington with a new planned tap room in Downtown Spokane. This new location will join other established Locust Cider tap room's in Woodinville, Seattle and Tacoma. They say the new Spokane location is part of an expansion plan to make cider more accessible to a larger audience while providing a space to educate on the nuances of the cider world. Also, they plan to introduce their new beer concept and expanded food menu.

The new Downtown Spokane Locust Cider will be located at 425 W. Main with a opening date projected to be sometime this Fall. The family friendly tap room will be in the Historic Huppin's building and will have many similarities to their other Washington tap rooms. They will offer 16 taps, made up of 10 cider flavors including their core favorites, popular returning seasonals and limited specials. The other 6 taps will be dedicated to their beer's including traditional flavors and rotating experimental flavors.

And, as I mentioned the new Spokane location will have an expanded food menu that includes sausages from their partnership with Uli's Famous Sausage of Seattle. They also plan to have wine in cans and an array of retro video games for young and old to enjoy.

“On a very high level, we are opening tap rooms so we can get as close to our customers as possible" said co-founder Jason Spears. The ciders and beers of Locust Ciders are all made using ingredients sourced from here in the Northwest. The company was founded in 2015 and by Patrick and Jason Spears and they specialize in crisp modern ciders. The beer end of the business was born just this year with a partnership between them and Dirty Bucket Brewing Co and now are all facets of the business are operated together under the new Locust Cider & Brewing Co. name.

For more info on Locust Cider & Brewing Co. , visit their website at-

http://www.locustciderandbrewing.com

Sears to close Northtown Mall store.

The shrinking of Sears and Kmart continues with today’s announcement that the company will close an additional 25 stores . Sadly, the Sears store in Northtown Mall is on this store closure list.

The stores on this list will close in late October with going out of business sales starting around August 15th. The press release does not mention how many will lose their jobs as a result of the closure, although there will surely be some.

This leaves the Spokane area with only the Spokane Valley Mall Sears store open. The last Kmart in the Spokane area closed a few months ago and has since become a location for Uhaul. There is no news as of yet about what might take Sears’s place at Northtown.