Nuthin' Fancy

Everyone wants to be the Elk. For a lot of new restaurants, it’s the go-to comparison. An Elk for north Spokane. An Elk for downtown.

The Elk Public House in Browne’s Addition — known for having classy but casual atmosphere and reasonably priced food — has weathered the recession with minimal turbulence. And its casualness may be feeding the restaurant’s success.

It’s no surprise that restaurant-goers tighten their belts during recession, and so some fancy dress-up restaurants have started dressing down. It’s a compromise between Carl’s Jr. and Clinkerdagger, a middle ground between Anthony’s and Arby’s, a twilight between fast food and fine dining.

Casual restaurants thrive by being cheap enough — around $12 a plate — that customers can go out to eat often, and classy and fun enough that they want to.

Consider three recent examples:

Picking Up Stix
98 Twenty Bistro was an experiment. 98 Twenty — it used to Bin 98 Twenty, but nobody knew what the “bin” meant — was supposed to be a high-end spin-off of Twig’s Bistro and Martini Bar.

It received good reviews. The Inlander liked it. But the spin-off fell in the wrong place (North Spokane) and the wrong time (the edge of recession). Management hurried to save it, cutting prices lower and lower. Eventually entrée prices became cheaper than Twigs’.

But “casual” means more than price points. Crystal chandeliers hung above intimate booths. The atmosphere at 98 Twenty still screamed “special occasion restaurant.”

“We heard a lot of comments from guests,” director of operations Trevor Blackwell says. “They felt they had to dress up. They weren’t comfortable bringing their kids in there.”

Just the vibe of 98 Twenty had limited the diversity of clientele.

The new concept for the building, Stix, is a spin-off in the opposite direction. It’s Cheers to 98 Twenty’s Fraiser. The interior design is still chic, but the elegant paintings of fine wine bottles have been swapped for neon beer signs. The menus say “$9.99” instead of “$10.” They traded intimate for open. Some 98 Twenty menu mainstays remain — the more expensive steaks, for instance — but they’ve also introduced new dishes, like the fish tacoes for $10.95.

98 Twenty was all about fine wine. Stix is all about fine beer.

Dem Lazy Bones
The atmosphere at Lazy Bones Barbecue is casual. Manly casual. Instead of abstract paintings, Lazy Bones hangs large pictures of — no joke — slabs of meat or gouts of fire and frames them with unvarnished two-by-fours. The barbecue sauce comes sheathed in hollowed-out six-pack cases. Big ol’ pipes hang from the ceiling. A lathe wouldn’t look out of place.

Owner John Fletcher dared to open in May 2009, when the recession wasn’t showing any signs of slowing or stopping, but he figured it had to bottom out sometime.

And though the people of the South Hill have higher incomes than, say, West Central, plenty want something in that sweet — or spicy in Lazy Bones’ case — $5 to $15 range.

“I don’t think everyone on the South Hill wants to sit down on a white tablecloth and eat,” Fletcher says. “We wanted to do something for the families up there.”

Sure enough, parents — and grandparents — have towed their sweatshirt-clad kids and grandkids to bite a bit of barbecue.

Fletcher has been surprised by the steadiness of his business. When Lazy Bones opens at 11 am — the door handles are giant forks — a steady stream of customers trickles in until the doors close at 9 pm.

“They’re definitely very price-conscious,” Fletcher says. “We’ve changed prices around and seen people’s reaction to things. You cut the portion, you cut the price, and suddenly people are happier.”

They come for ribs, and they leave bare bones in their wake.

“Good Food. Cold Beer.”
The Davenport Hotel is the opposite of casual. Real gold leaf frames the fireplace. Even the Website for the hotel’s Peacock Lounge is fancy, with flowing cursive script and elegant piano music. It’s the fanciest joint in Spokane, a high-rise hotel brimming with ballrooms and boardrooms.

The Davenport’s Palm Court Grill, naturally, is very upscale — try the herb-crusted rack of lamb for $36.

But after the Davenport purchased the Hotel Lusso across the street and 360, Lusso’s fine-dining restaurant closed, the Davenport decided to replace it with an English-style pub. When the Post Street Alehouse opens within the next two weeks, you’ll be able to snag fried pickles, barbecue sandwiches — all for around $10 a meal.

Their slogan is about as simple as you can get: “Good Food. Cold Beer.”

But Davenport owner Walt Worthy makes it clear that the casual feel of the Post Street Alehouse is not a reaction to recession. The Davenport has actually been making more money in recent months. It’s an attempt to fill a hole — downtown Spokane’s Elk equivalent — without competing with the Davenport’s upscale Palm Court or mid-priced Safari room.

The Alehouse interior is done in the English brick-and-lighthouse style, with 20 taps in the front. “This is going to be the nicest beer joint in Spokane,” Worthy says, “but not too nice.”

It’ll be, you know, casual.

So what’s the secret of doing casual right? Marshall Powell, general manager at the Elk, says the goal is to make people comfortable.

“Not to sound cheesy, but it’s like Cheers,” Powell says. Know everybody’s name. Fifty percent of the Elk’s business comes from repeat customers. And don’t forget the power of the price point, Powells adds.

Most often, that’s a casual restaurant’s downfall.

“They tend to get too concerned about what their salt and pepper shakers look like instead of keeping their food costs in line,” Powell warns.