Jimmy John's

I have driven past for month's, each time reading the neon sign outside that says, "FREE SMELLS." This alone is rather funny to me.  But, oh my!  I just got back from Jimmy John's and I am still smiling!  The sandwiches are great and all the other signs around the place, hilarious!

 


But first the food.




Jimmy John's is pretty much a sub and sandwich joint with an extensive repertoire.  They are pretty much ordinary, bread is either white sub or whole grain sliced, and then their is a vast array of condiments whereby your sandwich, sub, or not, is made just the way you like them, and they are good!  What more could you want?  A pickle?  They've got them too.

My boy loves pickles!  Geo too.

We got two!

The boy ordered bacon lettuce and tomato sub with extra bacon.  He really liked it.












Geo and I tried something new to us... the UNWICH!  Yes, we just could not resist.

What is an Unwich?  It's a sandwhich without bread.  Instead of bread your sandwich makings are wrapped with lettuce. 

Here is a Classic Italian.















Here is a Tuna, adorned with sprouts.









These specially wrapped Unwich beauties come with special instructions.  You must slowly and carefully, unroll the paper as you eat.  Eating an Unwich was rather fun (Maybe should be called Funwich?) and eating it made me feel like I was cutting a calorie corner by not having high carb bread.











The music was loud and fun, the signs all over the place were just the right kind of "wacky." We even liked the way that some of their tables were designed.

One of my favorite signs, (on the upper right hand side of this photo,) read, "If walls could talk we wouldn't need all these signs." The sign was shaped like a mouth.  

Maybe it was just my mood- o- de-day, but I thought that even the napkins were funny.

They even have a drive thru.


There is another thing that made me smile about this place, and this had to do with another neon sign on the outside of the storefront that read:

Extremely 

Fast 

Delivery!

I had to smile, because I think it's true.  There I was eating my food, sorta minding my own business, reading the signs.... taking a bite of my Unwich, unwrapping my Unwich and taking another bite.  Every so often a delivery person would run...literally run...around the corner and out the back door,,,, box of deliverables in hand.  I was impressed.  I also liked the sign they had that said:

NO SHIRT
NO SHOES
NO WORRIES.... WE DELIVER

(And you can bet it is probably be delivered extremely fast!)

Eating at Jimmy John's wasn't just delicious, it was rather FUN.

In Spokane, they are located at 105 E Mission Ave.... at least that is the one I visited.  I read though that one is located at 601 W Main Ave, too.  Jimmy John's is a franchise, so you can buy a store instead of a sub if you are so inclined to do so.  (I know this only because I read the sign on their wall that said so.... HA! )

Preview the Jimmy John  menu here.

Tony Ferraro's Burgers and Italian Bistro

I was introduced to this place when a friend of mine was very excited to celebrate her birthday by having lunch here with friends.  She told me, (and she's Italaian,) "Tony makes the best lasagna!"  Appararantly, she and Tony are on a first name basis; He came over while we were there and chatted for a bit.

This friend of mine, who is quite keen on Spokane history, was excited to show me and tell me a little bit about the history behind Ferrarro's Italian Bistro and his family too.  Adriano Ferraro, Tony's son, is quite the musician.  He has been on  and plays live music here on Thursday nights.  My friend's birthday was fun and the food terrific... so.....on a recent trip down Market Street, in Hillyard, Geo and I steered into Ferrarro's for a dinner out, and I got to introduce him to the uniqueness of this place.

Ferraro's used to be a "Steer Inn"... now it's got an Italian accent!

 And, if you don't want to go in and order (to eat your food indoors,) you can use the drive-thru!

However, if you go in, you can get a little bit about the history behind this place and Tony too.


We went in, up to the register and placed our order.   Then we settled. 

What did we order?  Well, it was not a Tuesday, so sadly, we missed out on lasagna,  Geo's favorite Italian food.  (That was depressing.)  The story is that Ferraro's only makes lasagna on Tuesday...  and it was not a Tuesday.  So if you like lasagna, remember, Tuesday at Tony's is the day for you.  They only make it on TUESDAY... and they like to serve it fresh.  Missing out on lasagna was a disappointment, as you might can tell, but there was a lot of other good sounding stuff on the menu.

 I  ordered Chicken Parmigiana, which came with a salad and bread.... and spaghetti.

 Geo went with Chicken Alfredo.  Instead of a salad he ordered bread... meanwhile, the pasta already came with some bread, so he had two.

 The food was yummy.  The atmosphere was comfortable and quaint.

 I enjoyed the memorabilia, which could be found all around the room.  I enjoyed reading about Tony's family and how it took them 11 days to travel across the ocean via ship when they immigrated to the US.  I found myself wondering what this place is like a Thursday night when Adriano comes in and plays his music on the piano.  I think it must be pretty special.

I like the idea that Tony is such a big part of the heart of Spokane.  On my friend's birthday, everyone in attendance knew who "Tony/" was.  I am impressed at how he and his family have an open heart to share their lives with and serve the people of Spokane and how they take care and pride in their restaurant's Italian food. 

 

Though I have never been there, I have learned that Ferraro has another restaurant on Sprague Ave...  we might have to try that one too.

The Shop

...coffee shop on Perry Street, that is; not to be confused with The Shop that sells surf and board stuff.  (They have the same "cool" name as each other, but a different genre of goods. )

I was actually out to lunch with my son, walking the Perry district for fun and exercise when I stumbled upon The Shop.  In the mood for a cup-o-joe, we wandered in and ordered up some of their delicious hot brew.  We both took note that this was very good coffee.... and  I understand that they roast it in house too!  Nice surprise.

The Shop itself was filled with interesting things to feast on with our eyes.  Besides pastries for us to imagine we were eating... (we had already eaten our share of pizza down the street,) and humorous signage on the wall, there was a lot of info from the neighborhood and activities around town that could be had too.

 

It was pretty popular that day.  Alot of people were having coffee and using the Internet, some bicyclists came in to rejuvenate themselves and we took a little respite on the sofa too, taking it all in for a little while as we sipped our joe.

 Like it's neighbor, South Perry Pizza, The Shop is a renovated garage or gas station, and in the summer has outdoor seating and a big parking lot.

 Outside on a neighboring wall is a painted projector screen, which I presume in summer is used for showing outdoor movies.  The painted-on screen was very cool. 

Great spot.... serves "lunchy" things, bagels too.  For the record, if my boy wants to go again when we are out on the town, I'm in!

Cafe MAC

Where's the Cafe MAC?  Well, it's a little off the beaten path.  It is located in Browne's Addition....

 in a little neighborhood..... near Riverside Drive inside Spokane's Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture.   The address is: 2316 West 1st Avenue, Spokane. 



At Cafe MAC you are in for a treat because serve American and Middle Eastern lunch items, like jadra, hummus, various delicious pastries, Turkish coffee and American coffee too!










 I not only loved touring the MAC museum with my friend, viewing some impressionists paintings....











and discovering some local art that really made our day unique ...












but I loved the fringe benefits.... of touring the Campbell House and having lunch together at the Cafe MAC.





 
 There was art everywhere.

Art on the wall.

Artistry in vases!

Art in man-made building designs and artistry in nature....

There was even artistry in the food.  A man named Victor Azar, who also does catering, manages the Cafe MAC.


The Jadra, a lentil and rice pilaf dish is what I ordered first, but they were out of it that day. As a second try, I simply ordered what my friend ordered and so, we both ate the Thai Chicken Wrap, which was served with chips.  It was not exactly middle eastern food, but it was good just the same.  It was pretty too.


Besides lunch there were lots of snack and desserts. There was a vast array of delicious treats, apples, cookies... and Baklava.

Cafe MAC (by D Zaar )is open Wed - Sat  11am - 4pm
Closed major holidays.  The MAC web info. for the restaurant is here.


Victors webpage is here.