TTs Brewery & Barbecue tentatively plans to open its second location later this month in Liberty Lake, says co-owner and chef Chad White.

The Liberty Lake TTs will be located across the street from Orchard Park, at 1950 N. Harvest Parkway.

“Liberty Lake is continuing to grow,” says White, who also owns Zona Blanca, in downtown Spokane. “As real estate continues to expand further east and north of Interstate 90 out in that area, I think it’s going to be a really great spot with a high density of public traffic.”

White partnered with Travis Thosath, the founder of TT’s Old Iron Brewery LLC, to open the first TTs Brewery & Barbecue in 2019 at 4110 S. Bowdish, in Spokane Valley.

“We specialize in smoking primal cuts of meat … your brisket, pork butt, chicken, turkey breast, sausage, pork spareribs,” says White.

All the meat at TTs is prepared with live-fire cooking, says White, who designed the menu. Scott Randall is the barbecue restaurant’s pit master.

“We don’t cook anything in ovens, as it’s all done on the smokers,” White says. “We cook our meats over two different types of wood: local apple and orchard wood, and then post oak from Texas.”

The most popular food items on the TTs menu are the ribs, turkey, and brisket, White says.

“We consider ourselves as craft barbecue. We take a lot of love and care into what specific proteins we purchase and where we purchase them,” he says. “We take barbecue very seriously—some might say too seriously.”

When it comes to spices, TTs only uses products from Spokane-based Spiceology Inc. Those include three of White’s own special rubs—Hot Bird, Flavor Hog, and Brisket Bomb—which were made in collaboration with the fast-growing spice and rub maker.

White says what separates TTs apart from other barbecue establishments here is that it’s also a brewery.

“We brew all of our beers in house,” White says. “We have an incredible brewer, Tanner McKinlay.”

The Liberty Lake location also will serve a rotating selection of TT’s Old Iron Brewery beer, although the drink menu will look a little different than the one in Spokane Valley.

“We should have about 12 beers on tap, and then we’ll have some cider,” White says. “What makes this (Liberty Lake) location different, is we will have a full liquor license. We’ll have batched cocktails on the menu.”

Most of the food menu will be the same at both spots, but it may expand slightly at the Liberty Lake location to include some fried items, like french fries, he says. Other sides served at TTs include chorizo pinto beans, potato salad, mac and cheese, coleslaw, and cornbread with honey butter.

Plans are already in place for the Liberty Lake location to host most of the TTs beer dinner events, White says, including the Winter Beer Dinner, which is scheduled for Dec. 3.

“Tanner is working on some seasonal beers, White says. “We’ll do a four-course pairing. I’ll be cooking the food; he’ll be producing the beer.”

The menu isn’t quite set for that event yet, but White says he’s excited to host those types of events again.

“We haven’t done a dinner like that in a really long time,” he says. “We’re now getting to the point where we can start having fun again. It’s been a long road coming out of COVID.”

The Liberty Lake TTs will offer takeout and will accommodate nearby catering requests, White says, although the Valley location will handle most of the catering services.

There aren’t any plans for more TTs locations currently, but White says they would love to expand to North Spokane at some point.

About 12 staff members will be employed at the Liberty Lake TTs, he says. To start, the new restaurant will be open five days a week, from Wednesday to Sunday.

Small Bites

•Spokane-based De Leon Foods Inc. has opened its first Coeur d’Alene restaurant in the former Cosmic Cowboy Grill space at 412 W. Haycraft, according to a De Leon’s Taco & Bar Facebook post. De Leon Foods also owns and operates three De Leon’s Taco & Bar restaurants in Spokane—at 10208 N. Division, 2718 E. 57th, and 1801 N. Hamilton—as well as two De Leon Foods Deli & Grocery Stores, located at 102 E. Francis, on Spokane’s North Side, and 15530 E. Sprague, in Spokane Valley. The Coeur d’Alene location opened on Oct. 5.

•Insomnia Cookies, the Philadelphia-based chain of cookie shops known for its late-night hours, plans to open its first Spokane-area store on Saturday, Oct. 14, at 922 N. Division, just north of downtown. The shop will be Insomnia’s third in Washington state and 254th nationwide.