Gangnam Style Korean Restaurant coming to Downtown Spokane

 While it's hard to write about this new restaurant without getting the 2012 viral song by the same name going through my head. It's also exciting to report that a new Korean restaurant named Gangnam Style is coming soon to Downtown Spokane.

Courtesy photo-Rencorp Realty

Gangnam Style Korean Restaurant is a new locally owned and operated restaurant that is nearing completion in the Wharton Building at 411 W. 1st Ave. The owner says the new restaurant will be a Pocha-style Korean restaurant offering and exciting and authentic Korean pub-style experience. Pocha (short for Pojangmacha) refers to Korea's beloved street food stalls and casual drinking spots, where friends and coworkers gather over delicious comfort food and drinks. Serving a mix of popular Korean street food, sizzling hot plates, and traditional drinks in a fun and welcoming atmosphere.

The menu has a decent selection of items from appetizers, lunch items and bigger meals, including the popular K Chicken. Gangnam Style will also have their own homemade Kimchi. Additionally, adding to the uniqueness of this new restaurant every wooden feature, table and lighting fixtures was made by the owner's family in their garage. The opening date hasn't been announced just yet but will surely be coming soon. Stay tuned to their social media pages for details on their progress. 

Gangnam Style Korean Restuarant is just part of the ongoing renovations to Downtown Spokane's Wharton Building. A few weeks ago, Jupiter's Eye Book Cafe opened in the building's other storefront space. Spokane based Rencorp Realty is also leading redevelopment of the upper floors of the historic building into 17 studio and one-bedroom apartments which are presently being worked on. More information on the Wharton Building redevelopment project, and Rencorp's other local projects can be found by following them on social media via Facebook or Instagram

And, for more information on Gangnam Style Korean Restaurant, visit their website at https://gangnamspokane.com/ and give them a follow-on Facebook or Instagram

Capriotti's Sandwich Shop opening in Post Falls on Tuesday

 Capriotti's Sandwich Shop, a chain known for its award-winning, hand-crafted cheesesteaks, turkey subs and more has announced the opening of their newest location, opening Tuesday, May 20th in The Pointe at Post Falls development area in Post Falls,ID. The new shop is located at 264 S. Beck Road.

Capriotti's Post Falls is owned and operated by local resident Jameson Angle. After spending his career in IT, Angle sought a way to work more closely with people and serve his community. He also opened the Coeur d' Alene location of Capriotti's in 2022, that location also remains open at 305 W. Appleway. "I've always wanted to be part of something that brings people together, and Capriotti's does just that" Angle said. "From the first bite, I knew this was a concept I wanted to share with my community. I'm excited to expand into Post Falls and introduce even more people to the incredible food and experience Capriotti's has to offer"

Capriotti's Sandwich Shop is known for its wide array of sandwiches including: 

The Bobbie - an award-winning creation made with fresh oven-roasted turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing and mayo.

Capstrami- Crafted with hot pastrami, Swiss cheese, Russian dressing and homemade coleslaw.

Cheesesteaks- Made with premium steak, chicken or Impossible plant-based meat and melted cheese, plus hot or sweet peppers.

Capriotti's also offers catering for any event, from corporate events to birthday parties. With catered items including cold sub party trays, box lunches, or a hot homemade meatball party bar. For more information, visit their website at https://capriottis.com or call the Post Falls store at 208-981-0010

Five Below files for building permits in Spokane Valley

 A growing national discount retailer appears to be coming soon to the Spokane market. The chain, Five Below recently filed for building and mechanical permits for the former Party City storefront in Spokane Valley's Evergreen Crossing shopping center near the corner of Evergreen & Indiana (13806 E. Indiana). We reached out on a couple of occasions to Five Below's media contact but did not get a reply. However, the applications we're filed at the beginning of May under the company's name.

It appears as if the Spokane Valley location will be the only new Five Below store in the Spokane area for the time being at least and there isn't an opening date known as of yet. The application shows they plan to do a tenant improvement on the 12,189 square foot space, with architectural work done by Sargenti, a firm with multiple offices around the nation and significant experience working with large chain stores. The general contractor however is still shown as TBD.

Five Below is discount retailer that sells the majority of its merchandise for under $5 and is based in Philadelphia after being founded elsewhere in Pennsylvania in 2002. The company reports having over 1800 stores in 44 states, up from over 1400 in 2023. According to the Five Below page on Wikipedia the stores usually carry sports items, games, fashion accessories, bath and body, candy and beverages, room decor and storage, stationery and school supplies, books, smartphone accessories, novelty and gag items and seasonal merchandise. For more information on Five Below, visit their website at https://fivebelow.com

Heat Street's new store will surely heat up the Garland District

 

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An exciting new local store will join the Garland Business District this weekend. Heat Street is a new retail store selling vintage, streetwear and sneakers from the storefront at 1011 W. Garland Ave. , just under a block west of the Garland Theater.

Heat Street is a local, Woman and Hispanic owned and operated business and is planning to host their official grand opening Sat. May 17th from 10am-6pm . The new store features a variety of merchandise from vintage sweatshirts, graphic tee's, vintage denim, cargo pants, jerseys, outerwear, skirts, womenswear, accessories, sneakers and more. After this weekend's grand opening the store will be open Tues-Sun 10-6

The store will also have a unique part of their business model, where they plan to rotate small vintage vendors, changing the store up every two weeks. An application to be considered for selling at Heat Street is linked on their Instagram page. Which can be found at https://www.instagram.com/heat__street/

Scale House Market announces upcoming grand opening

 The Spokane Conservation District (SCD) recently announced the completion of construction on the new Scale House Market - a vibrant, year-round food hub and public marketplace located on SCD's Quarry Campus at 4422 E. 8th Ave. in Spokane Valley. The opening to the public will be on Saturday, May 31st, the Scale House Market represents years of community vision, public investment, and conservation driven redevelopment. As the Market prepares to open its doors, SCD is also welcoming BECU as the project's Premier Sponsor. Celebrating shared values of local investment, and equitable access to fresh, local food.

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"As soon as we heard about Spokane Conservation District's vision, we were inspired to get involved. We are focused on creating local impact and the market is an exciting opportunity to support Spokane in a meaningful way - one that strengthens community connection through food and people" said Beverly Anderson, BECU's president and chief executive officer. "It's a chance to work alongside passionate business owners and help them grow and build financial stability for the community"

The $4.4 Million project is being developed through a public-private partnership between SCD and Four Roots, a female, Veteran owned food resiliency business as the market's future operator and vendor support organization. Olson Projects led architectural design, and Halme Cascade General Contracting managed construction. Additional investment support came from community-minded sponsors and funders including: Avista and Avista Foundation, STCU and STCU Here for Good Foundation, Agwest Farm Credit, Forster Financial, and Johnson-Fix Foundation.

The Scale House Market will be Spokane's first year-round farmer market. On opening day, May 31st the market vendors will be open from 8am-2pm with the mercantile area open from 8am-4pm. Scale House Market will be home to dozens of vendors, food vendors, a mercantile store, event space, commercial learning kitchen and more. For more information on Scale House Market visit their website at https://thescalehousemarket.com/ , donations to the market are also still open with information on that also on their website. 

Alani Bakery now open in Coeur d' Alene

 

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A new locally owned and operated bakery is now open in Coeur d' Alene. Located in the new Appleway Quarter mixed use development nearby the intersection of Appleway & Fourth (291 E. Appleway), the new business goes by the name Alani Bakery.

Alani Bakery isn't technically a new business though as they owner has been doing custom baking orders and events from her home for the last four years and is now taking the leap into a brick-and-mortar operation. However, they do still plan to take custom orders. Today (Monday 5/12) is their soft opening with baked breakfast and sweets like cinnamon rolls, banana bread, churros, coffee cake and croissants. In the coming weeks they also plan to host an official grand opening and adding French press coffee, teas, croissant sandwiches, and cheesecake.

For more information on Alani Bakery, visit their website at https://www.alanibakery.com/ and give them a follow-on social media via Instagram

Vicki's Garden Center expands to the Liberty Lake area

 

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"I have been wanting to do this for a while" explained Vicki Lima, owner of Vicki's Garden Center. Vicki's Garden Center has now opened a new second location at 3716 Spokane Bridge Rd. , near Liberty Lake. The original Vicki's at 2100 S. Inland Empire Way has also opened for the 2025 season and has added more selection. Both locations are open Mon-Fri 9-5 and Sat. 9-3.

Vicki's Garden Center opened in 2012 and is locally owned and operated by Eddie and Vicki Lima. Many of their family members work for the company as well, with about 30 employees total, some seasonal. The owners also own Lima Greenhouses where much of their inventory is grown. "With our new Liberty Lake location, we have a lot more room and we can now carry a large selection of shrubs and more roses coming along all the time. We have also been able to add houseplants. We just did not have the space before, but our customers have been asking for them." said Lima

Vicki's Garden Center has also become one of the biggest suppliers of fountains in the area as well. For more information on the business, pay them a visit or visit their website at https://vickisgardencenter.com/

Moon River Thai Kitchen opens in Post Falls

 Looking for a new local restaurant to check out? Perhaps a new place to surprise mom with for Mother's Day. Then you might want to add Moon River Thai Kitchen to your radar as the new restaurant now open in Post Falls has been getting rave reviews so far. Located in a converted historic former home at 212 E. 7th St, nearby the I-90 Spokane St. exit the restaurant is locally owned and operated and currently in a soft opening phase but is planning to do a more official grand opening in the coming weeks.

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Moon River's owners tell me they are a real mom and pop establishment with just him and his wife running the business at the moment. The cooking in done by his wife, Kanita who is from a small town in Thailand and then went to culinary school in Bangkok and later became a cooking instructor there specializing in Thai cuisine. He points out opening a restaurant has been dream of hers for a long time and she's finally doing it!

The restaurant is named after the Mun River in Thailand and offers indoor dining and carry out orders. The menu consists of Thai classics Green Curry, noodle dishes like Pad Thai, salads, fried rice and others. They will also carry Thai beer, local ciders and wine. For more information on Moon River Thai Kitchen, check out their website at https://www.moonriverthaikitchen.com/ and give them a follow-on social media via Facebook and Instagram

Maddie's Corner Cafe coming soon to Spokane

 

The small space formerly occupied by a local favorite eatery, Dolly's Cafe is about to gain new life as a new restaurant is working towards opening there in the coming weeks. Located at 1825 N. Washington, in a just under 1,000 square foot stand-alone building at the corner of Washington and Indiana the new restaurant will be called Maddie's Corner Cafe.

The owner has two dogs with one being Zozo and the other being Maddie, who has cancer, and this will be a way for her legacy to live on after she is gone. Maddie's Corner Cafe is currently planned to open in June of this year and will be a diner style breakfast and lunch restaurant. I'm told they plan to have a chicken fried steak as their signature dish.

Maddie's Corner Cafe doesn't have a website or any active social media pages as of my writing this.

BECU opens new South Hill branch

Courtesy photo of the ribbon cutting at the new South Hill BECU neighborhood financial center.

Early last week, Boeing Employees Credit Union or BECU as it's more commonly known opened their fourth neighborhood financial center in the Spokane area. This location being on the South Hill in a slightly less then 4,000 square foot storefront at 2501 E. 29th Ave. Suite A. 

The new South Hill BECU center will serve over 24,000 local members, offering full financial and teller services, access to mortgages and loans, business banking, trusts and investments as well as personalized support. The credit union also has been a big supporter of the local community. Since 2022, BECU has provided more than $1 million in giving to Spokane area non-profits focused on housing stability, access to education, economic development and other key areas.

2025 marks the 80th year in operation for BECU, a credit union that started with a small group of Boeing employees and has since grown to over 1.5 million members and more then 3,200 employees. For more information on BECU, visit their website at https://becu.org

Local Flavors opens on the South Hill

 

Spokane's newest sandwich shop and whiskey bar opened last weekend on the South Hill at 5611 S. Perry. The new business is called Local Flavors and is locally owned and operated by the next generation of the Egger family, who also have Egger's Better Meats directly next door to Local Flavors. The new place offers a variety of delicious sandwiches including corned beef Ruben, classic pastrami, smoked chicken quesadilla and more.

In addition to the sandwiches, Local Flavors also has sweet potato fries, pretzel bites, nachos and other classic snacks. They will also have desserts from the locally owned Just American Desserts. Of course, the new restaurant also features an extensive whiskey selection alongside craft cocktails, beer and curated wine list. 

For more information on Local Flavors, give them a follow-on social media via Facebook

Cheney Depot Society & Eastern Coffee Roasters announce partnership to bring historic depot to life.

 Today the Cheney Depot Society and Eastern Coffee Roasters officially announced their partnership to bring new life to the soon to be 1929 Northern Pacific Railroad Depot, located at 15 Union St. in Cheney. The restoration project is set to be completed in late 2025, with Eastern Coffee Roasters being the first tenant in the historic building.

The Cheney Depot Society, a 501(c)(3) non-profit group of Cheney locals passionate about preserving the town's rich history, is leading the renovation of the iconic Spanish-style depot building. The non-profit and its dedicated team of construction partners from Walker Construction and Terry Mourning & Associates designed the renovations with hopes for a coffee shop to one day fill the space. And those hopes are coming true with Eastern Coffee Roasters planned new coffee shop there. Once the work is done, Eastern Coffee Roasters will open a cozy coffee shop with state-of-the-art roasting area in the 2,200 square foot former Depot.

As the Roasters' flagship location, the new coffee shop will feature three dining areas where patrons can enjoy a light menu and single-origin coffee next to a warm double-sided fireplace. There will also be a large conference room for meetings, study sessions, and community events. Eastern Coffee Roasters will also revive the depot's historic luggage and freight area for their coffee roasting operation. Eastern Coffee Roasters will also introduce a special "Depot Blend" coffee. All profits from this coffee blend will go to the Cheney Depot Society to support the restoration project.

More updates on the project and the coffee shop's grand opening will be released by them later this year. For more information, visit http://www.cheneydepot.com and http://www.easternroasters.com