Irish-themed eatery opens by courthouse

Knockaderry Irish Pub & Eatin’ House, a new restaurant and bar, has opened near the Spokane County Courthouse in the space previously occupied by The Sidebar & Grill.

Owner Colleen Freeman, who also owns the Satellite Diner & Lounge in downtown Spokane, says Knockaderry began serving lunch and dinner items on March 4. The restaurant is located at 1011 W. Broadway.  She has operated the Satellite, located at 425 W. Sprague, for 16 years.

Knockaderry is a village in County Limerick, Ireland. The city of Limerick, which is located within that same county, is a Sister City to Spokane, recognized—along with Nishinomiya, Japan; Jilin City, China; and Jecheon, Korea—through the Sister Cities Association of Spokane, a nonprofit organization recognized by the city of Spokane and supported by citizen volunteers.

“I’ve wanted to open an Irish pub for a long time,” Freeman says. “It’s a cool little space, and this neighborhood is up and coming, and growing, with Kendall Yards. It’s been busy since it opened.”  

The restaurant, which seats about 100 people, opened in the leased space after some minor remodeling. Freeman bought the assets of The Sidebar & Grill, but declines to disclose terms of the transaction.

In addition to Irish-themed foods, she says Knockaderry serves draft Irish beers and an assortment of Irish whiskeys, among other drinks. The Knockaderry employs 11 people, and the Satellite has 33 employees. 

—Treva Lind

Auto repair shop opens on Nevada

Duane Ruegsegger and Tiffany McKeown have leased the former Martin Motors property on north Nevada Street and have opened a new automotive repair business, named CarCraft Automotive, McKeown says.

The property, located at 3105 N. Nevada, includes a large, three-bay shop building located on a 10,000-square-foot lot, she says. One of the bays basically is double the size of a typical bay, so the overall service area is sizable, and the building also includes two offices, one of them on a mezzanine level, she says.

McKeown says she and Ruegsegger leased the building from Rick Martin, who had operated Martin Motors there for close to 30 years, until closing it last September.

CarCraft Automotive specializes in repairing, rebuilding, and replacing engines, but it will do all types service work on both domestic and foreign car models, she says.

The business has two full-time employees, not including the owners, who McKeown says both have other jobs and will work there part time.

 

—Kim Crompton

 

Motorcycle-apparel, parts store planned 

 Owners of a Spokane Valley-based restaurant and bar called The Handle Bar plan to open a retail store inside of the eatery next month to sell motorcycle parts and apparel.

Co-owner Frank Smith says the 2,000-square-foot shop will be called Hell Yeah Cycles, which will be near the front of the restaurant building at 12005 E. Trent. Smith says the store will sell men and women’s motorcycle apparel, belts, boots, and T-shirts, along with motorcycle parts.

“I’m catering more to the women’s apparel,” says Smith, who adds that he has ridden motorcycles since childhood. “I’ve come to the conclusion that about 80 percent of my sales are going to be from women.”

The restaurant and bar area also is about 2,000 square feet, and Smith says he plans to build and open this summer an outdoor bar and patio on the back side of the building.

“We have home-cooked food, and it’s family friendly,” Smith says.

He owns the business with his son, Nathan Smith. They reopened The Handle Bar last August, after the building at 17927 E. Appleway where it previously was located was destroyed in a fire in November 2011. The business had been open in its original location for only seven weeks, Smith says.

He says he has remodeled the space on Trent and is buying the property. The Handle Bar employs three people in addition to Smith and his son.

“We expect to hire more as we open different phases,” he says. “It could be as many six to 10 more this year.”

 

—Treva Lind

Paragon Brewing plans to open pub

Paragon Brewing LLC, of Coeur d’Alene, has bought a 2,300-square-foot building at 5785 N. Government Way, formerly occupied by Sully’s Irish Pub, and plans to open a bar and restaurant there. 

Chris Kieres, who co-owns Paragon with his wife, Kerry, and Jake Eieker, the restaurant’s operations manager, says Paragon will be remodeling the building throughout April and plans to open a full-service pub at the location as early as May 1, building a separate structure for a brewery in the summer.

The company plans to serve “traditional pub food with a Northwest flavor,” Chris Kieres says. The pub will employ as many as eight people, including Matt Dill, financial officer for Paragon.

Kieres says that while the pub is expected to open as a restaurant in May, Paragon plans this summer to build a separate, 2,000-square-foot brewery building next to the pub. When the brewery is complete, Paragon plans to brew strong Scotch ales, northern English brown ales, and Czech pilsners alongside American IPAs and pale ales. 

The Kieres have been brewing beer competitively for nearly five years. Kerry Kieres’ Red Dog Brown northern English ale was awarded Best in Show in an American Homebrewers Association-sanctioned competition last year. 

“We tend to focus a lot toward traditional style guidelines for beers, with our own influence,” Chris Kieres says.

Until the brewery is complete, Paragon will serve locally sourced beers on tap. Paragon plans to offer guided tours as well as sell merchandise such as growlers, shirts, hats, and glassware.

Kerry Kieres has worked in restaurant management for nearly a decade, including working for Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Applebee’s, and currently Caddyshack in Coeur d’Alene.

—Lucas Thayer

New Cd’A restaurant set to open in April

A restaurant-industry veteran and business partner plan to open a fine dining restaurant in downtown Coeur d’Alene under the name Fork at Lakeside.

Chef Will Scott, who has cooked for such eateries as Hay J’s Bistro in Liberty Lake and Oval Office Bistro in Post Falls, says he plans to open the restaurant at 309 E. Lakeside in early April. He will own the business with ex-wife Monica Scott.

Will Scott, who will work as the restaurant’s executive chef, says he is completing a remodel of the restaurant space at an estimated cost of about $25,000. The facility previously was occupied by Lemongrass, a French-Asian restaurant that closed. 

He says Fork at Lakeside is expected to have 10 employees. The restaurant will feature steak, seafood, and pasta dishes, with prices ranging from $10 to $28.

—Treva Lind

Engineer launches  solo practice here

Jacob Gokey, of Spokane, has launched Gokey Engineering PLLC, a one-person specialty structural engineering and consulting firm.

Gokey, who has 10 years of experience, says he formerly was with the Spokane office of Seattle-based DCI Engineers. He’s licensed in Washington, Idaho, Montana, California, and Colorado.

He says Gokey Engineering’s areas of specialty include single-family and multifamily residential, mixed-use, retail, commercial, institutional, and design-build projects. 

Current projects for which Gokey is providing engineering services include a $5.5 million, 110,000-square-foot Pullman Building Supply structure in Pullman and a $5.4 million, 16,300-square-foot retail building in Fort Collins, Colo., Gokey says.

Gokey Engineering also handles renovation projects, including tenant improvements, remodels, and retrofits.

Gokey operates out of his home and doesn’t have any employees, but he says he hopes to move into commercial office space with room for a couple of employees as business grows.

—Mike McLean