House of Brunch LLC is bringing its brunch concept to North Idaho with a second restaurant, at 309 E. Lakeside in Coeur d'Alene, marking the company's first expansion outside of Spokane. 

The Coeur d'Alene restaurant wasn't part of an immediate expansion plan. Co-owner Jackson Connery says the opportunity to open a second location surfaced when the owner of the Coeur d'Alene building approached Connery and co-owner Brad Duffy about opening a House of Brunch restaurant in the space. 

Spokane-based Dave Black Properties LLC owns the Coeur d'Alene property, according to information on file with the Kootenai County Assessor's Office. 

"We weren't looking for another space," Connery says. "We didn't have a commercial real estate agent or anything. The owner of the building came to us. We toured it, bounced ideas around, and ended up thinking this was the perfect spot for us."

Expanding the House of Brunch has always been part of the company's long-term strategy, Connery says.

"That's why we created it as a brand," he says. "We've been very strategic in making sure we document everything that we do. The colors are the same, the tables are very similar, so we're trying to make it so it can be copy-and-paste while still having its own identity."

The first House of Brunch location opened in 2023, at 818 W. Riverside, in Spokane, which was selected after Connery and Duffy had issues finding space in North Idaho.  

"We had been searching for about a year and a half," Connery says. "We couldn't find a space in Coeur d'Alene, and we ended up sealing the deal on the location in Spokane. We packed up shop and decided to move the idea to Spokane."

Connery says neither he nor Duffy had established business connections in Spokane when they started work on the restaurant. Despite entering a new market, House of Brunch drew a strong crowd during its opening weekend. That momentum has carried over into the new restaurant in North Idaho.

The business now employs about 50 people between its two restaurants, with 25 employees working at each establishment, Duffy says. Most employees work full time to help maintain consistency in service and operations, although the company also employs some part-time workers to help accommodate weekend demand, he explains.

The Coeur d'Alene restaurant occupies 5,000 square feet of space — about 1,000 square feet larger than the Spokane location — and Connery explains that much of the additional space is used for storage. Dining capacity is 110, which is identical to capacity at the Spokane restaurant.

Converting the North Idaho location into House of Brunch eatery required some cosmetic renovations, he says. The restaurant space previously housed Emran Restaurant for about two years. Connery and Duffy removed dark finishes left by the previous tenant, built custom booths, refinished the walls, installed new countertops, updated the flooring, and brightened the interior, Connery says.

"We wanted to bring that vibrant energy," Duffy says. "Fortunately, we didn't have to do anything really structural. It was more surface-level renovations and turning it into the brand."

Both House of Brunch owners say the company's focus has always been to create an elevated dining experience that remains accessible to a broad range of customers. Connery and Duffy both previously worked in luxury hospitality environments, and say they wanted to apply those service standards to a casual brunch concept.

"I would say polished casual," Connery says. "We like to make it feel elevated, make it feel like fine dining without any of the pretentiousness. Brunch has to be fun."

That philosophy also extends to their menu, he says.

Rather than serving premium sturgeon caviar that can cost hundreds of dollars, the restaurant offers paddlefish caviar at a much lower price point to appeal to more customers and entice them to experience items they may not otherwise order, Connery says.

"We wanted to bring that level of service and food to the general public," he says. "It's cool to see how many people have tried caviar for the first time in our restaurant."

For Duffy, the restaurant aims to create memorable experiences in addition to serving meals.

"Anyone can take someone's order and cook food and serve it to them," Duffy says. "It is truly about the experience and making people feel like a guest."

With a second restaurant now in operation, the owners say they aren't placing deadlines on future growth. Their immediate priority is ensuring the Coeur d'Alene restaurant operates as smoothly as the Spokane location before pursuing additional expansion.

Connery says he hopes the company will open another restaurant within about three years. For the long term, their vision is larger, Duffy adds.

"The ultimate goal is to get them in every major city in the U.S.," he says of the House of Brunch. "We're trying to redefine brunch, but we want to make sure every location is dialed in and successful before we move on to the next one."