Shakey's Pizza Parlor

This place was an experience.  I mean, three of us went and we all were a little struck with the uniqueness and business of it all.  Thankfully the servers answered all of my questions and directed us in what to do.

Shakey's  is relatively new to this location, (9602 N. Newport Hwy) It's another one of those places I have wanted to try, but never did  quite have the opportunity.  (I blame the yummy little "Panda Express" next door.) But you know, when an opportunity presents itself, sometimes you just have to take it, and the other day I did.

I remember Shakey's as a child.  It was not here in Spokane, in a completely different city in fact, but it was still Shakey's Pizza, even way back "when."   I remember, way back then, the big ta-so was a guy with a banjo playing while my family ate pizza.

Times have changed, now there is big screen TV, an a kids arcade.

Golf was on at the time, to which my daughter who was with us, and who is really good at "goofy golf," and who knew it was World Cup season, automatically subtracted ten points from the overall restaurant score.  (She probably would have given them some points for a banjo player though.)  Sports bar or no sports bar, which they also have here, we are not keeping score.. just enjoying the dining experience and the food, and... for the record, just as I remember as a child, the pizza was superb!

We ordered the Firehouse Special on thin crust.  I love it.  Being a basil lover, I thoroughly enjoyed the fresh basil and the thin crust was probably the best I have even had. It was hard to choose what to order, as there is quite a selection, even a make your own option.  Here is the menu!

We enjoyed a salad and some buffalo wings too.  Because they specialize in MOjo's we had to try that too, so we had a small order of chicken and mojo's...  yum!

They offer a beautiful salad bar.  I personally do not care for iceberg lettuce, but Geo loves it.  If you are a romaine lover like me, there's a plethora of optional add ins.  They do not offer a one trip salad option however, except in their luncheon specials.  This was kind of a bummer.

They utilized these groovy little homing devices to help them find your table and bring your order to you when it is ready.   This might also call your server to the table , I am not sure, but it is a rather neat little invention I must say.  I should have pressed the button to see if it worked, and called a server to get my drink for me, I didn't like standing in line, the one and only line in the whole place,  to pour my own drink. 

I did ask the server who answered most of my "first timer" questions  if she liked working here and she said it was a great place to work.  She said nothing but positive things about it and praised here manager saying that everyone liked working here.  It shows.  Shakey's Pizza Parlor, as crazy of an atmosphere as it was for us first timers was definitely a great place to eat, and they have a great, old fashioned,  sense of humor here too...

Definately a winner in the Pizza department... right up there with the best, that is for sure!

The Elk Public House

This is the street view of The Elk, located at 1933 W. Pacific Ave in Spokane.  I have been wanting to go to this place for a while, but the thing that has been preventing me is our love for Asian food. I still love Asian food, it was just time for something else.... so I got to go here, finally!

I think the thing that has drawn me to want to visit the Elk is that it is tucked away in an older part of town, one with big lofty houses, and arboreously green parks and, one of my favorite things about a city... there are sidewalks.

Call me "crazy"... but I love to walk down sidewalks.  I love old buildings and houses too.

(I think it is a remnant of my childhood.)  The Elk is right, smack dab, in the middle of it all.

On the inside The Elk is a bit of a pub.

Like all good pubs. it is an eating establishment as well.  Here is the menu, the backside of the menu is a listing of the wines and beers they serve.

Here is my coaster:

For an appetizer we had garlic bread and I have to say, IT may well be the best I have had anywhere yet!  When they say "smothered in garlic"  they mean it!

Geo went for the 74th St. Gumbo, a dish with chicken, sausage, shrimp and vegetables served over rice.  It was a rather spicy dish... a bit of a sailors stew, I would say, not really y kind of thing, but he loved it.  He detected the sichuan pepper spice right away.  It was really good with the bread they served with it.















I went for the Ruben sandwich....

...It was  corned beef, Swiss, (house made) sauerkraut and Thousand Island dressing on toasted rye bread.  I choose the cucumber salad for a side.  I didn't know it would come with peanuts on it.  This was surprise and most unusual to me.  I kinda liked it.  The Rueben was really, really good!  IT was so good Geo wanted to help me eat it. 

 The decor was simple,  the scene a little bit trendy...(an art deco neon "Drugs" sign was lit up over the door.)  I even got to read a local independent underground kinda  "rag." 

Our food was great, our server was fantastic....and afterwards we went for a walk looking at some of the spectacular neighborhod houses along the City Tour route. 

The Elk's kitchen hours are Sun, Mon, Tues, Wed 11am to 10pm/ Thurs, Fri, Sat 11am to 11pm, and you can get take out food too, but it will cost you 25 cents extra each. 

The perfect ending to an evening on the town.
 

Baek Chun Sushiyama

Well, we have found another terrific restaurant... Baek Chun Sushiyama located  at 13032 W 14th Ave in Airway Heights.  It is hard to believe we have driven right by this one many times and never thought to give it a try, that is until tonight.  I am not sure what lead us here... probably the Korean food advertisement, but I am sure glad we found this place.

If you have never been here, and if you love oriental foods, this is the place for you!  It is the place for me, that is for sure.  It's a really pretty little place, decorated so nicely and it serves really great food.

Baek Chun Sushiyama specializes in both Japanese and Korean food, I have since learned that they have a special reputation for sushi.  We felt very welcomed and well cared for during our meal too.

In addition to a restaurant, the owners run an oriental food store that shares the same building.  The store is filled to the brim with all kinds of foodstuff that you might want to have handy if you enjoy Japanese or Korean foods at home.  I loved browsing up and down the isles looking at all the interesting things.

Geo ordered Korean, and I ordered Japanese.  He had the Kim Chee Soup and I had a Bento with Teriaki and Tempura. 

Here you see his soup with all the Korean trimmings--- These we delicious.  The Kiim chee was awesome. 

Here is my Teryaki Chicken Bento---

The Bento came with all sorts of yummy tempura, some side salads and California Roll.  (a.k.a. sushi)  To my surprise the sushi had fish eggs on top.  These kinda looked like orange sprinkles.  I ate them.

Wow, I have never eaten caviar before... fish eggs either....  I wish I could rant and rave but they were so small they were almost unnoticeable... except I had to go and ask what it was on my sushi.

"Fish Eggs"

They were not so bad.  Geo loves caviar, and often has tried to get me to eat them.  HE did not even have to try, I just ate them, he helped a little because we shared.

I am so glad to have discovered this little place.  It iw well worth the drive to Airway Heights to check out all the little restaurant that they have hidden over there.  This one is a little gem....  a little bit like those sparkling fish egg sprinkles, you might say;  definitely "a keeper".... and one we will visit again... and again!

We will be back... soon!