Tastea Coffee & Boba Lounge coming soon on Grand

 A new coffee shop and boba place is coming soon at 1314 S. Grand Blvd. #3 on the South Hill. The new locally owned and operated business will be called Tastea Coffee & Boba Lounge and is expected to open within the next few weeks and is owned by the same people as Gloss Nail Lounge which is adjacent to new place.

Coffee will be from a local roaster, and they will have a good selection of boba drinks on the menu. Additionally, they plan to sell small treats from other locally owned businesses, charcuterie boards, small sandwiches, yogurt parfaits and pastries. Affagato's served with local creamery ice cream and Vietnamese coffee will also be available.

For more info on Tastea Coffee & Boba Lounge, include to updates on their opening date give them a follow on social media via Instagram .

Emran Restaurant opens in Coeur d' Alene

 Emran was the first Afghan restaurant in Spokane when they opened Emran Restaurant & Market at 1817 N. Division earlier this year. But now they have also become the first Afghan restaurant to open in Coeur d' Alene with a new Emran Restaurant now open for business at 309 E. Lakeside Ave. in Downtown Coeur d' Alene.

The Coeur d' Alene location of Emran Restuarant serves the same menu as the Spokane location with a selection of delicious Middle Eastern dishes. A few curry dishes, kababs and a lot more, they are also working on being able to serve beer and wine in the Coeur d' Alene location but as of my writing this, have not yet been able to offer these.

Indoor dining and carry out orders are available. For more information on Emran Restaurant Coeur d' Alene visit their website at https://emranrestaurantcda.com and give them on a follow on social media via Instagram or Facebook

Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience opens at new Exhibition Hub Art Center

 An exciting new immersive art exhibit is now open at a new venue in Spokane. The Exhibition Hub Art Center Spokane Art Center, located at 808 N. Ruby is one of several new art centers opened by the company across the country. And their first show Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience opened to the public just yesterday.

Courtesy photo by Jennifer IG :@spokanecurious

Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience is a 360-degree digital art exhibition that invites you to step into the universe of the Dutch genius, Vincent Van Gogh. The captivating experience, a previous winner of USA Today's 10 Best Readers Choice award is brought by the organizers of a collection of widely successful exhibitions presented in cities across Europe, Asia and the Americas.

Courtesy photos by Exhibition Hub.

Featured is a one-of-a-kind VR experience: travel through 8 works and their source of inspiration in "A Day in the life of the artist in Arles, France" (small additional fee). Digitial displays, sound effects, projection mapping and much more!

Inland Northwest Business Watch was able to check out the media preview of the Van Gogh experience and we're very impressed. The event and new venue will likely prove to be an asset to the Spokane community as the Exhibition Hub will likely also be home to future art events by the same company in the future. "When we open an art center we tend to stick around" said John Zaller, Executive producer for Exhibition Hub.

"Spokane is a growing market, very vibrant, in terms of its support of the arts" said Zaller when speaking on why to choose Spokane for the opening of the show and venue. "So, we knew there would be a good market for an art exhibition and immersive art experience"  

Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience will also be a boon for the Spokane economy. Zaller noted " We get people from two, three, four hours away who are coming to Downtown Spokane. They're going to come to Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience as their destination. But, they're going to stay in a hotel. They're going to go to the restaurants, they're going to go to the bars, they're going go to the symphony or the Art Museum, as well. They're going to make it an overnight event. They're going to make a weekend of it" 

Exhibition Hub Art Center Spokane is open Mon & Thurs. 10-7, Friday 10-8, Sat. 9-8 and Sun. 9-6. Ticket prices are shown in the image below, with the group price being shown as per person. The facility also does offer ample free parking.

Courtesy photo by Jennifer IG: @spokanecurious

For more information on Exhibition Hub Art Center Spokane, visit their website at https://www.exhibitionhub.com or https://vangoghexpo.com/spokane also follow the Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience show's social media pages via Instagram , X or Facebook

Also, a huge thank to you to Jennifer of the @spokanecurious page on Instagram for your help in covering and contributing to this article. Be sure, to also give her page a follow via https://www.instagram.com/spokanecurious

New businesses join Mode Campus in Liberty Lake

 Spaces continue to fill up at the new Mode Campus in Liberty Lake. Located within the former Meadowwood Office Complex at 2110 N. Molter Rd. Mode opened in April and is intended to be a revolutionary community campus drawing off of creator Luke Kjar's Danish roots. The first part of Mode called Mode Work is a contemporary coworking space, after that a yoga business, Dance studio, a coffee shop called Grit & Grind and others have since joined the large campus. But now even more businesses are joining the new facility, including...

BioProformance Institute (BPi) joined the Mode Campus recently furthering its mission to empower individuals to live their best lives through innovative health and wellness services. BPi was founded in 1968 as North Idaho Physical Therapy and rebranded to BPi in 2020.

DT Training Systems opened their new location at the Mode Campus at the beginning of July. The fitness and performance center offers cutting edge facilities and diverse fitness offerings. Including a wide range of strength, conditioning and cardio sessions, including Crossfit.

Rock School NW moving from Coeur d' Alene the North Idaho Rock School has rebranded to Rock School NW and moved to the Mode Campus. Rock School NW offers music lessons and instruction.

More is still likely in store coming soon to Mode, with the facility also hosting several regular and special events. For more information, including links to the events and places there visit their website at https://findyourmode.com

West Plains Brewing to open in Airway Heights

 A new brewery will open soon in Airway Heights, called West Plains Brewing the business will open in a 3,600 square foot space at 12622 W. Sunset Hwy. Suite D, next to Domino's Pizza. The brewery is planning to open towards the end of July.

Courtesy photo of the new West Plains Brewing tap room in Airway Heights

Business owners recently told our colleges at the Spokane Journal of Business (J.O.B. article here) that they will have 14 taps with 10 of which being a rotating selection of beers brewed on site. A food menu will be coming in the future but as of opening day they will be limited to packaged snack items and free popcorn.

For more information on West Plains Brewing, visit their website at https://westplainsbrewing.com

Jupiter's Eye Book Cafe opening soon in Downtown Spokane

 An exciting new combination bookstore and coffee shop is coming soon to a storefront in Downtown Spokane. Called Jupiter's Eye Book Cafe the store is planning to open sometime in the 4th quarter of this year. But an exact date will be announced by the business later as the space is still under construction.

Jupiter's Eye Book Cafe will be located in the historic Wharton Building at 411 W. 1st. Ave. The bookstore portion of the business will be specialize in mystery, sci-fi and fantasy genres. The cafe side of the business will offer coffee, tea, beer, wine and likely will have a simple coffee shop type fare. 

For more information on Jupiter's Eye Book Cafe, check out their website at https://www.jupiterseyebookcafe.com/ (also still a work in progress) or give them a follow on Instagram

Discount Days coming soon to Post Falls

 Every day will likely be a discount day at a new store opening soon in Post Falls called Discount Days. Planned to open towards the end of July, Discount Days will be a bin/ retail store that will sell returned or overstock items from different stores. The store will be located within the Tedder Business Center (former North Idaho Outlets complex) along Riversbend Ave.

Discount Days is a family-owned business that will offer household items, electronics, toys, clothing, and any other items that come in on the truck loads. Item prices will change depending on the day, on Fri., everything is $14, Sat. $8, Sun $4, Mon $2, and Tuesday 2 for $1. The store will also have a retail section of more expensive items where everything is 30-60% off of the retail price.

For more information on Discount Days, including posts about their official opening follow their social media pages via Instagram or Facebook

Torra Tea to open in Spokane Valley

 A new restaurant is coming soon in Spokane Valley, where the Uno Mas Taco Shop once was at 11205 E. Dishman-Mica Rd Suite 104C, by Barney's Harvest Foods grocery store. The new place will be called Torra Tea and will have a large menu, which is tea and whiskey forward.

The tea menu will include extensive black, green, white and yellow loose-leaf teas as well as a wide assortment of herbals to sip hot or iced and tea infused lemonade, mocktails and cocktails. Offerings will include whiskeys and bourbons from the US, Canada, Ireland and Japan and scotch from Scotland.

Torra Tea will offer tea, spirits and bites with overtures of Scotland woven into everything. The nod comes from the business owner's Scottish heritage that she and her husband both share. Torra Tea will be part tea house with elements of traditional tea service but will also offer some unexpected tea services such as their night cap tea and Scottish High Tea, which is a supper and more of a 3-course offering. They will offer small bites for tea and appetizers specializing in savory pies and galettes (savory slab pies). Other entrees will also be available like bourbon maple beef short ribs and lighter meals like soups and salads.

Eventually Torra Tea also plans to host some events such as character teas for the younger crowd, educational evenings on topics like tea/whiskey with food parings, cultural tea classes and the like. The tell me they intend to make Torra Tea a social hub, a place to relax and unwind with friends and family. The space will offer sit down dining with wait staff as well as take out dining options through online ordering a drive up select menu.

As of my writing this, Torra Tea's website and social media pages are still coming soon. But watch the Inland Northwest Business Watch social media pages as I'll likely share some of their info as their new place progresses. Currently the new business is hoping to open sometime in July.

Konala planning new restaurant in Coeur d' Alene, more to come...

 Konala, a local quick service restaurant with healthy options of protein packed poke bowls, teriyaki bowls, salads and more is growing. The company's first eatery is located in small building behind the Bunker Bar, off of Spokane St in Post Falls. And now they are working on a new location coming soon to Coeur d' Alene.

The new Coeur d' Alene Konala will be located in the former Carl's Jr. building at 106 E. Appleway. They plan to open there in early August with the location having the same menu as the original location in Post Falls. This location will be larger so it will include an indoor order counter and small indoor dining area with a portion of the building will be used as office space for the growing company as they plan to begin franchising. 

Both locations are open daily from 10am-9pm and offer a drive thru and delivery via the DoorDash and GrubHub. Additionally, Konala say they are working on opening two locations in Spokane but it is too early to realese where those locations will be and when they will open.

For more information on Konala, visit their website at https://www.konala.com

Big Red's Barn back open in Coeur d' Alene

 Many loyal customers were sad when Big Red's Barn, a popular indoor petting zoo attraction closed back in May in Coeur d' Alene. But since then, the business has come under new ownership and recently re-opened and is now a family-owned operation.

Courtesy photos

Big Red's Barn is located at 7397 N. Government Way in Coeur d' Alene. The new owners (the Harris family) advertise the business as a place to step into a world of furry friends and fascinating creatures at a family-oriented indoor petting zoo. The petting zoo is home to several animals including goats, sloths, reptiles and more. The business' goal in to provide education in a fun setting.

Additionally, Big Red's Barn also offers a private party room that was crowned the best kid's birthday party venue by North Idaho's Business Journal in 2024. Admission is $15 per person, with special discounts given to military, first responders and seniors. The business is open Thursday through Sunday from 10:30a-5:30p.

For more information on Big Red's Barn, visit their website at- https://www.bigredsbarn.com

Phoenix Cafe opening soon in Downtown Spokane

 Spokane based Revival Tea is planning some major upcoming expansions, the company was recently highlighted in an article by our friends over at the Spokane Journal of Business as they hope to become the "Starbucks of tea" with the goal of creating a nationwide presence for the local company. 

But, today we're looking one change the company is making to one of their local operations. Revival Tea is the operator of Spokane Boba Bar in the 400 block of W. Main in Downtown Spokane. And, while they plan to keep being a purveyor of boba they are planning to rebrand the space, adding many items and giving it an all new name.

The storefront will soon be re-opened as Phoenix Cafe, with a new full coffee menu including espresso, as well as acai-tea bowls, and toasts. The goal is to include these new items when they open new locations, with Revival's location in Coeur d' Alene also adding these items. Revival Tea also will continue to operate their separate tasting room operation, also located in the 400 block of W. Main.

For more information on Revival Tea Company, check out their website at https://www.revivalteacompany.com

Sodalove to open new location in Post Falls

 Sodalove, a locally owned and operated business selling dirty sodas is expanding. The company started in 2021 with just one drive up stand, in Coeur d' Alene along Kathleen Ave. in the parking lot of the Super 1 Foods grocery store. Today, that location still remains in business.

Now Sodalove is preparing to open their third location in a new stand off of Idaho St. in the parking lot of the Super 1 grocery store in Post Falls. Their second location is located in Southern Idaho in the city of Preston.

Sodalove offers a menu of "dirty sodas" a trend that has been sweeping the country mixing many flavors and other items into various sodas and energy drinks. Additionally, Sodalove also offers pretzels and some treats. The new Post Falls location is set to open on Sat. July 13th with free drinks offered to all who stop by in-between 10-3.

For more information on Sodalove, visit their website at https://www.mysodalove.com and be sure to give them a follow on Instagram