A new restaurant and bar, The Sidebar & Grill, has opened near the Spokane County Courthouse.

Grant Cagun, a retired Spokane Fire Department deputy fire marshal, and his wife, Becky Cooke, opened the business in early May in a leased building at 1001 W. Broadway, next door to Milford's Fish House, which is on the southwest corner of Monroe Street and Broadway Avenue. Earlier this year, they had bought the assets of the former tenant, Hale's Bar & Grill, which went out of business.

Cragun says he remodeled the space himself, at a cost of just under $10,000, to create what he describes as an airy, neighborhood-friendly eatery. The restaurant seats 98 people.

"We're in the courthouse district, so we want to cater to the neighborhood," Cragun says.

Cragun is overseeing day-to-day operations at the restaurant, and he says Cooke, who is the Deer Park School District superintendent, helps on weekends.

He adds that he has always wanted to own a bar and grill, and that his wife encouraged him when they saw the former business was for sale. The business has three full-time and two part-time employees.

The eatery had a "soft opening" on Bloomsday, when more than 51,000 people in the race ran or walked in front of the business while nearing the finish line at the Monroe Street Bridge, and had a lot of customers that day, Cragun says.

It officially opened the following Monday. It's open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 11 a.m. to midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. It's closed on Sundays.

The owners changed the menu to include items that range in price from $7.50 to $10. Cragun says the menu offers healthier choices, including a strawberry spinach salad, a Mediterranean platter, sandwich wraps and a mahi mahi fish taco, alongside a traditional lunch menu of burgers, soups, and sandwiches. Befitting the restaurant's location, a few of its menu items have law-related names.

Cragun eventually plans to add a patio on the south side of the building.