Shamus’s set to open in Airway Heights

Shamus’s Sandwich Shoppe plans to open its third restaurant this summer, says Shawn Reilly, founder of the sandwich company.

Reilly says he and business partner Steve Emtman have bought the former Buckhorn Inn restaurant and lounge building at 13311 W. Sunset Highway in Airway Heights, where the new Shamus’s Sandwich Shoppe will be located.

“He’s the not-so-silent partner involved in the building,” Reilly says of Emtman. “I do the ‘big deli’ sandwiches.”

The flagship Shamus’s Sandwich Shoppe opened in 2009 at 4212 E. Sprague.

Reilly says the restaurants are named after his twin brother and his son. The brother manages the second Shamus’s Sandwich Shoppe, which opened at 1014 N. Pines Road in 2012.

The Airway Heights restaurant will be the largest of the three Shamus’s Sandwich Shoppes, with initial seating capacity of about 50 people in about 3,500 square feet of former Buckhorn Inn dining space.

“We’re just opening the dining side off the bat,” Reilly says, adding that he’s considering converting the 1,500-square-foot former bar area into banquet space in the future.

Reilly says the Airway Heights restaurant will share the same menu as the other two Shamus’s Sandwich Shoppes, which includes over a dozen sandwiches and build-you-own options.

Reilly says the new restaurant will open with four or five employees.

“It’s pretty streamlined,” he says. “All the employees have to work hard, but we like to have fun and have a lot of laughs.”

The restaurants also have a rotating selection of beers on tap and sports photos on the walls.

“We’re a sandwich shop with TVs, but we’re not a pub or tavern,” Reilly says. 

—Mike McLean

Liberty Ciderworks grows distribution

Now in its third year of operations, Liberty Ciderworks has secured a new distribution partner and expanded its cider offerings at its taproom and production facility located at 164 S. Washington.

Co-owners Rick Hastings, Austin Dickey, and Adam Sanborn and their spouses serve as the business’s employees, along with a part-time sales manager and a part-time tasting room operator.  

Liberty previously self-distributed most of its ciders, but Hastings says the business recently signed on with Seattle-based American Northwest Distributors Inc.

“We’re excited to see what the future holds once our cider is more commonly available,” he says. “American Northwest will receive its first shipment of Liberty product this month, and consumers can expect to see our cider on store shelves statewide soon after.”

Last month, Liberty hosted its third annual Cider Splash event, which Hastings says served as both an anniversary celebration and an opportunity to introduce customers to some new offerings.

 “Previously we had a tasting room license, which only allowed us to offer our own product,” he says. “With our new tavern license, we can offer product from other producers both on tap and in bottles.”

He says Liberty’s bottle shop now includes more than 30 bottled ciders and several guest ciders on tap.

Liberty is also working on a community-built cider product, due out this summer, which will be labeled “Spokane Scrumpy.”

 “The cider is made with apples picked and donated by volunteers, mostly from local backyard and roadside trees,” he says. 

Hastings says Liberty paired up with Second Harvest Food Bank of the Inland Northwest, and the Spokane Edible Tree Project, to reach out to volunteer apple-pickers for donations. Once the cider is ready, Liberty will host a rollout event, with future proceeds from the cider’s sales going back to Second Harvest.

—LeAnn Bjerken

Old Shari’s to house Monroe Street Grill

The former Shari’s restaurant building at the southwest corner of the busy junction of Monroe Street, Indiana Avenue, and Northwest Boulevard is being remodeled into a new restaurant, to be named the Monroe Street Grill.

Last summer, the property, which is owned by Lloyd Torgerson, was being considered for a possible new Burger King location. However, those plans were scrapped after failing to meet the city of Spokane’s design standards for a drive-thru. 

Since that time, Marshall Clark, of Clark Pacific Real Estate Co., had been working with Torgerson to find a suitable tenant for the 4,000-square-foot building, located at 1819 N. Monroe. 

Clark says the new tenants will be Lonnie and LaShay Germain, a couple here who currently own Top of the Line Seafood & Burgers, a restaurant located at 24 W. First in Cheney.

LaShay Germain confirmed she and her husband have been working with Torgerson to remodel the Monroe property, which they hope will be ready to open next month. 

 “We started out years ago with a food truck, then a two-window drive-thru,” she says. “We’ve been in the Cheney space for about four years, and now we’ve finally found our dream spot in Spokane.”

Germain says the Monroe Street Grill will have the same menu as Top of the Line, including burgers, seafood, chicken, soups, salads, and desserts, as well as breakfast combos.

“We’re sticking with our current menu because it’s awesome. We take a lot of pride in our food, taste, and presentation,” she says. “However, we will be expanding our menu items.” 

Top of the Line’s location currently has nine employees, and Germain says the couple plans to hire a staff of 19 to work at the new location. 

—LeAnn Bjerken 

Sunny Buns debuts first Valley location 

John and Denna Treperinas, co-owners of Sunny Buns Tanning Salon & Spa, have opened their third spa, located at the former home of Sunsational Tanning Co., at 1401 N. Argonne in Spokane Valley.

The couple is leasing 3,000 square feet of space at their new spa location. Denna Treperinas says the couple opened the first Sunny Buns on the South Hill, at 2821 E. 27th, 15 years ago. Sunny Buns began operating a second spa at 634 W. Garland, in the Garland District on Spokane’s North Side, three years ago.

“Even though the Valley location is the biggest, the South Hill spa is still the mothership, so to speak, because it’s a full-service spa,” she says. “We won’t do hair and nails in the Valley as we do at the South Hill spa.”

The couple purchased the tanning equipment from Sunsational and immediately began operating the new Sunny Buns, she says.

With 12 employees, the Spokane Valley Sunny Buns has eyelash and bikini waxing, 14 tanning beds, anti-aging treatments to help moisturize skin, and airbrush bronzing and spray tanning, typically for competitive body builders, Treperinas says.

Sunny Buns now has 40 employees at its three locations, she says.

The couple decided to open a third site when Treperinas’ name was selected in a nationwide drawing in which she won a $25,000 spray tanning machine called a VersaSpa Pro, offered by Macdeonia, Ohio-based VersaSpa, which manufactures tanning products and equipment.

“Winning that is what sealed the deal for us,” Treperinas says. The VersaSpa Pro has the ability to spray tan and help moisturize skin.

—Kevin Blocker