The Otis Grill

Otis Grill is a new favorite on the breakfast scale for Geo and I.  Have you been here?

This restaurant, located in the Otis Orchards area, might be a little far for you if you are not looing to take a drive, but it just a hop, skip, and a jump from the freeway if you are traveling between Spokane a Coeur de Alene, (or anywhere in-between.)  Otis Grill, located at 21902 E. Wellsley Avenue... in Otis Orchards, WA, specializes in "hometown" cooking... and is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and in the spring summer, autumn or winter, too.

The day we went for breakfast, there was snow on the ground.

It was indeed a beautiful biscuit and gravy, eggs and bacon... and pancake day, 

 made complete with maple syrup.

And who does not love Rosie the Riveter, Marilyn Monroe and old cars?

I did say, "hometown"... right?
It's not a fancy spot.  In fact, when you arrive, they invite you to pick your own seating, (in other words, seat yourself...) and evidently the people here feel right "at home."

 If you are wondering about the menu.... here's an idea of what is served:

 And.. if you are adventurous, like James T. Kirk, pictured here on the menu, you can order the quadruple Otis Burger....

 ...at the Otis Grill.

Five Guys Burgers and Fries

I recall being in another city and asking some kids where a good place for lunch would be.  They offered "Five Guys," however, we never made it there because we opted to est something besides burgers and fries.... the main items on the Five Guys menu.  Ever since we got a "Five Guys" in Spokane, I have been hoping to go and see what those kids were talking about, then finally, last week, a friend suggested we go there for lunch together.  So off we went, all six of us!  Five Guys Burgers and Fries has two locations in Spokane.  We went to the North side restaurant at 9502 N. Newport Hwy.

Not knowing what to expect, I was surprised.  First of all there were a lot of people there.  Second of all, you can get free peanuts to eat while you wait for your food, and in addition to the traditional burgers and fires, they sell hot dogs too.  It's a simple menu, mostly burgers and fries, but your burger is done up to order.   The french fries are cooked in peanut oil.  (This must be to make sure you don't go overboard on the cholesterol.)  You walk in, stand in line, then at the cash counter, you order your burger and toppings... fries if you like.

Then they cook it for you, and call your number when they are done.

Snacking on peanuts while we wait....

They have a state-of-the-art beverage dispensing machine where you can select just about anything you can dream of bevving... including water.  

This machine is great.  You simple select your drink by touching your choice on the screen, place your cup underneath in the porper position and press another button above your cup to dispense.  It's pretty amazing, really.

They serve up your burgers and fries in brown paper sack.... kinda makes you feel like your mom made your lunch or something.  Be warned.  The bags, covered with grease spots, are a tell-tale sign  that your food is not low calorie.

here is my sack.... kinda messy.  I did like the sturdy cup.

This is a burger without the bun... lettuce wrapped instead.

This is how you eat a bunless burg.

This is the traditional with a bun.

The fries are made from real potatoes, cut right there in the store. It's a rather sloppy presentation, but I think they guys really like it.. propbably all five of them voted that this would be the cool way to make and serve burgers to make a buck!  There is nothing "Namby-Pamby" about a greasy looking sack lunch!  I imagine that it's even better if you pick out your own toppings and the stuff in your sack tastes just the way you like it!

 I ordered my burger bunless.  They wrapped it up in lettuce leaves for me.   My friend ordered hers with a bun.  

I was informed that they will make you a "burger in a bowl" too if you like,  The burger in a bowl is another kind of bunless presentation, less messy I suppose than trying to eat a wrap, although mine stayed together pretty good.  In a bowl it would probably be easier to eat... as like a salad, but at that point for me, it would not be like esting a "burger."  I though a burger with lettuce tomatoes, onion, pickle...  etc... served in a bowl with a fork might be interesting to try.... but I went with the wrap..

So how was it?  It was fun to try this spot and eat with friends and it was yummy.  I like burgers every now and then.

The peanuts were a great treat for my friend who does not eat potatoes....and they were roasted nicely too.   Also there were not peanuts all over the floor like some places tend to do.   The music was too loud, but we complained about that.  They told us they would be more than happy to lower the volume when it is too loud for customers. That was nice.   And the food?  Well, we all enjoyed eating our burgers.  In fact, some of the ladies even talked about their burgers later, saying how good it was.

Kids like it!

Sometimes a good old fashioned hamburger, grease and all. one that is not selected from a made up menu, and does not cost you ten dollars, one with all your favorite condiments on it,  just hits the spot! 

Satellite Diner and Lounge

Where will YOU go out for food when you are out and about and it is after... say, "10:00 PM" in Spokane?  Well, just when you thought you'd just go home and have a bowl of cereal... you can think again about going out.  You can try the Satellite Diner, located at 421 E. Sprague Avenue;   they are open till 4 AM!  They have great food and a fun menu to-boot!

The Satellite Diner, while new to me is not the new kid on the block either.  I was told by my server that it has been in business about 15 years.

It wasn't too late when we found ourselves there, but it's wan't the breakfast hour either.  Still all repent had breakfast foods and it was great.  The service was great, the food was great...and the crowd was friendly that lingered outside.  The only problem we  had was in having a hard time finding the door on the way in! We almost found ourselves in the lounge! we discovered that the lounge and diner have separate entrances.

(You can order the same great food from inside the lounge.. you just will be carded going in.  You won't be carded walking into the diner though.) 

One highlight for me was reading the menu.  It is truly very clever.  For example... instead of "milk" they offer Cow Juice... (even our family's favorite pink kind!)

They offer to cook your food to order... anyway you like .. and give you adequate warnings about the risks you take in that:

  There is a lovely selection of Omelets....

 And they offer some "EXTREME EATING OPTIONS" of interest too:

We ordered....The Satellite Stacker...

 With some super thick (and yummy) pancakes!

One of the EXTREME Eating Options...The Biscuit Stacker...which is "cheesy hashbrowns, homemade biscuit, sausage parry, bacon, two eggs and gravy.  Yes, it was served like this!

Our other dish was one of their yummy Omelettes.... The Meteorite.  Boeing here, loved the German Sausage.

Loved that diner!
How about you?

Hop Jacks

Last week Hop Jacks officially opened.  It's a little neighborhood-type of gathering spot, they say, and I must say, it is rather neat to have a place that welcomes the gathering of friends like the taverns and inns of old.   It's definitely a friendly spot.

Their specialty, I have learned, is hops and things made with hops, like beer, though I was at first, by sheer virtue of the name of the place, thinking it would be more like pancakes made really fast. You know.."Hop Jacks"  Nope.   It's hops.



In the "olden days," these were gathered by men on stilts!

As you see here, the taps are covered in ice.  At Hop Jacks, they guarantee that the beer on tap is extra cold.

Aside from the brew, their specialty is food, and you can even get pancakes, omelets  burgers, soup and salads here too!  This restaurant is part of a chain with restaurants in other cities.  My friend Nan says she goes to the one in Lacey all the time.

Fish Tacos

A Tasty Toasted Sandwich

Bowl of Clam Chowder with Salad

Cup of Clam Chowder

Asian Chicken Salad

They offer a rather eclectic menu for sure.

I have been here twice.  Located on Nevada street, near the WINCO store it's been rather convenient for meeting and eating with friends and co workers when on the north side of town.  The exact address is 9265.

The outside of the building is not unique, but the service here is great, very attentive.  I have never been to any other restaurant where they greet you and open the door for you as they do here, (unless of course this was just because of the grand opening week....  time will tell.  If you are in a hurry, let them know, for our group, they were very accommodating.

Paul Bunyan (Coeur d'Alene,Is)

The sign for this place is as big as....well, need I say, Paul Bunyan.  On second thought, it is actually bigger than the legend says he was.  All I know is that this is one big sign!  You cannot miss Paul Bunyan's Pak Out when driving along Northwest Blvd in Coeur d' Alene.

Paul Bunyan, as you folklore buffs may know, was a very large lumberjack who traveled with his Blue Ox named Babe.  There are some photos of lumberjacks around the restaurant inside.  Evidently, the owners in the past have had connection to the logging industry, and those loggers work so hard, they probably needed a great little sandwich shop to eat at. back in the 1950's when this place got it's start.

 It's a small spot, looks and feels like it's been here a while, but I was truly surprised at how busy the place was.  I watched with amazement as car after car drove up to the "Pak Out" window and the little place filled up inside too.

 It's your typical burgers and fries kinda place....

We had burgers.  Geo had the Paul Bunyan Burger... on the right.... and I had the "Deluxe."
We also had onion rings and a huckleberry shake.



The burgers were.... burgers, but the shake was amazings as were the onion rings.

In typical local NW fashion, they had all the necessary dipping sauces  to offer too.




















So this is Paul Bunyan's. Coeur d'Alene.  However, I saw there is another Paul Bunyan burget place on my way to Sandpoint.  That Paul. He gets around.