Sounds of tango music and the aroma of freshly baked empanadas and pastries will soon bring some Argentine ambience to the Browne’s Addition neighborhood west of downtown Spokane.

Cafe Buenos Aires LLC is expected to open this week at 1924 W. Pacific, in the former Browne’s Bistro space, across the street from The Elk Public House.

The Argentine café is somewhat of a reincarnation of Tarascon Empanadas, a North Spokane restaurant that closed in 2020 during the pandemic, about a year after opening.

“Tarascon Empanadas is just empanadas,” says Ari Alvarez, co-founder of both establishments. “This is bigger than that.”

Café Buenos Aires will serve a variety of Argentine empanadas and pastries, coffee blended with Argentine and local flavors, and a selection of beer and Argentine wine.

“Over time, we will add more dishes,” says Ana Alvarez, the café’s other co-founder.

Argentine empanadas are turnover-like pastries filled with savory ingredients. At Cafe Buenos Aires, the handheld, made-from-scratch baked goods are offered with a variety of filling options, including beef, chicken, corn, spinach, pork sausage, and turkey and cheese, all of which are accompanied with other flavorful spices and ingredients.

“It’s more of a to-go thing, like pizza in many places, which is perfect for the café-style,” Ari says.

The empanadas served at Cafe Buenos Aires will keep the Tarascon brand alive and will continue to don the former restaurant’s name along the sealed edge of the savory snacks.

Also made from scratch will be a selection of Argentine pastries, most of which are staples at any café in Argentina, Ana says.

“We are also going to offer a yerba mate, which is a very traditional drink in Argentina,” she says.

Yerba mate is a type of herbal tea that originated in South America.

The new café occupies the entirety of the historically registered Fred & Mary Guse House, which was built in 1901, according to the Spokane Historic Preservation Office.

Ari says that with two floors of seating and a spacious patio area that wraps around the front and side of the building, a café with a service counter, rather than servers, made more sense for the space.

The exclusion of servers also keeps operating costs lower, says Ari, who adds that he’s noticed high labor and supply expenses squeezing more restaurants out lately.

“Then we can charge less for whatever we serve and it’s more popular that way,” he says.

Like many cafés, the new Browne’s Addition business will cater to students and remote workers, offering them a space to study and work. Fiber optic internet was installed at the building to accommodate customers’ internet needs, Ari says.

Ari Jr., the Alvarezes’ son, will also be involved with operating the cafe.

The Alvarez family, including Ari’s and Ana’s two children, immigrated to the U.S. in 2002 from Argentina, living first in California before moving to Spokane in 2009, where they were granted U.S. citizenship a few years later.

“My son was getting interested in working in restaurants, and we cook all the time at home,” Ana says. “We decided, because we don’t see any Argentinian place here, maybe it’s a good idea to have some empanadas.”

Ari Jr. has worked multiple restaurant jobs in Spokane to gain industry experience, including at Santé Restaurant & Charcuterie, Italia Trattoria, and Maple Street Bistro.

When the Alvarezes had to close Tarascon, Ari Jr. decided to go to culinary school at Spokane Community College, from which he graduated in 2022.

The business’s name change to Cafe Buenos Aires from Tarascon Empanadas was due to confusion that arose for many customers. Ana says many people assumed Tarascon was a Mexican restaurant and would ask them if they served tacos or burritos.

“There’s no taco or burrito in Argentina,” Ari says. “We did not know what tacos and burritos were until we moved to the U.S.”

Ari says they picked the new name because most people know Buenos Aires is located in Argentina.

Tarascon built up a large customer base that is awaiting the opening of Cafe Buenos Aires, Ana says.

“We keep receiving messages from our customers asking us, ‘When are you going to open?’” she says.

Ana says they hope to hire another four or five employees to help her and her family operate the café.

Cafe Buenos Aires will be open 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Small Bites

*Indicana, a new restaurant in the heart of Spokane’s Perry District, is scheduled to open on Tuesday, Oct. 22, in a 1200-square-foot space at 1020 S. Perry, across the street from South Perry Pizza and Perry Street Brewing. The new eatery, which is being founded by local chef Noreen Hiskey and entrepreneur Chip Overstreet, will offer food that celebrates the flavors of India and Mexico, a press release from Indicana states.

*Spokane Valley-based Wake Up Call opened a new coffee shop earlier this month at 3414 N. Sullivan Road, in the Valley. The new shop is the latest of Wake Up Call’s 31 locations across Eastern and central Washington and North Idaho.