Downtown Spokane, which used to fall asleep when the sun set, now is staying awake into the wee hours, and doesnt appear to be likely to resume its slumber anytime soon.


In recent years, new restaurants and bars, spurred on by development activity in the citys core, have been changing the landscape of the after-hours scene downtown. New hotels, condominiums, and entertainment venues have lent a cleaner, safer, and more upscale image to the area, which creates an environment where nightlife can thrive, downtown business representatives say.


Five years ago, downtown rolled up at five oclock, says Marty Dickinson, president of the nonprofit Downtown Spokane Partnership. Now, on any given night of the week, the streets are lively, and people are eating dinner, going out for martinis, listening to bands, and going to art galleries.


Noel Macapagal, owner of Raw Sushi & Island Grill, at 523 W. First, says he and other players in the nightlife industry were encouraged when developers such as Davenport Hotel owners Walt and Karen Worthy started infusing money into the downtown core near the start of this decade.


Other big cities Ive worked in have always had a vibrant nightlife every day of the week, and you couldnt say that about Spokane a few years ago, Macapagal says. It started with Walt and the Davenport district, and now its turned into a snowball effect, because if we see a local person making that kind of investment, it makes us more confident to do the things were doing now.


Macapagal, who owns Raw, as well as Okane on the Hill, on Spokanes South Hill, says he plans this summer to open an upscale restaurant and bar called the Five-O Lounge at 22 W. Main. The restaurant will serve European and Asian fusion food, as well as feature two private rooms that will serve a rotating mix of food created by guest chefs, he says. He estimates it will employ about 40 people, which would give his company a total of about 200 employees, he says.


Macapagal says hes been eyeing the east end of downtown for several years, and believes it will be the site of much more development in the near future.


The east side is an excellent opportunity because of the Division Street corridor and the convention center expansion, he says. These are properties that were sitting vacant for four years or more, and now, all of a sudden, theres a lot more interest in them.


Eric Nagano, a principal at Cuisine Northwest LLC, which operates the Bluefish restaurant and bar downtown, at 830 W. Sprague, agrees that nightlife activity is heading east.


Theres not much more left to develop on the west end, he says. People are creating venues to continue the flow to the east, and its going to put another little pocket of entertainment and restaurant and beverage activity into the downtown.


Dickinson says the growing U-District east of downtown also is contributing to the nightlife activity there, and the advent of River Park Square eight years ago undergirded the entire downtown.


Several restaurants and bars have opened on the east end in the past two years, including Prago Argentine Caf, at 201 W. Riverside; the Lions Lair, at 205 W. Riverside; and Isabellas Restaurant & Gin Joint, at 21 W. Main.


Other nightlife spots that have opened or expanded downtown within the past three years or so include: The Safari Room Fresh Grill & Bar at the Davenport Tower, at 111 S. Post; P.F. Changs Bistro, at 801 W. Main; JimmyZ Fine Food, Spirits, & Cigar Lounge, at 521 W. Sprague; Twigs Bistro & Martini Bar, at 808 W. Main; Steelhead Bar & Grille, at 218 N. Howard; Wild Sage American Bistro, at 916 W. Second; Brooklyn Nights, at 122 S. Monroe; Bistango Martini Lounge, at 108 N. Post; Trick Shot Dixie Outlaw Saloon & BBQ, at 321 W. Sprague; and Ellass Supper Club, at 1017 W. First.


Meanwhile, Cuisine Northwest LLC plans to open a restaurant soon in the space formerly occupied by Ankenys Rooftop Restaurant on the top floor of the Ridpath Hotel. The company already has opened the Artisan Room on the Ridpaths ground floor, Nagano says.


Nagano, who moved here five years ago, says hes watched as the downtown core has transitioned into a hip locale from a place that his relatives in Spokane Valley didnt want to visit because they were afraid to walk on the streets at night.


People avoided it because of parking issues and vagrants, he says. Now, its become a destination, and you can see people hopping from one place to the next.


Nagano attributes the change to a number of factors, including entertainment venues that have opened or been remodeled, such as the Spokane Convention Centers Group Health Exhibit Hall, the Big Easy Concert House, and in the future, the refurbished Fox Theater. In addition, the city has helped clean up the area with projects such as the Post Street enhancements and by stepping up its law enforcement efforts, he says.


Reema Shaver, owner of the Bistango Martini Lounge, says she opened her swanky-looking establishment because she saw a need for an upscale bar downtown, and thought the time was right given the activity going on there.


People were so anxious to have an upscale, quality, safe bar to go to, and the success weve had shows that Spokanes citizens will frequent nice places and are willing to pay money for nice places, Shaver says.


Shaver says local residents have been visiting downtown more often, but customers also come from outside the Spokane area, making the citys core a regional nightlife hot spot.


People arent having to go to bigger cities like Seattle, because its all here now, she asserts. Theyre realizing what a gem Spokane really is.


Destination point


Dickinson says one of the goals included in the Downtown Spokane Development Plan, which the city of Spokane enacted in 1999, was to make the area more of a destination and to extend the hours of downtown life.


We said, Lets just get them to come down here and choose what they want when they get there, Dickinson says.


Part of what has helped draw a variety of people to downtown has been the broad mix of businesses that have opened, many of them locally owned, she says. In addition, many of the restaurants that have opened recently, as well as some that have been here awhile, now operate extended hours to keep the party going later into the night, she says.


It gives downtown a cool, authentic feel to it when nothing is cookie cutter, she says. When you look at Seattle or Portland, they have bones like this, an eclectic mix that shows Spokane has what it takes to make it a 24-hour downtown.


Condo projects that have been springing up also have spurred commercial activity and a consistent stream of customers to those businesses, Dickinson adds.


Nagano, Macapagal, and Shaver say the rising number of people who are living downtown has helped lend stability to the nightlife industry. Macapagal cautions, though, that unless people live fulltime in those condos, rather than just view them as an investment, the units wont continue to contribute as heavily to urban growth and vitality in the future.


The softening condo market is a challenge, Nagano says, but as we increase the infrastructure downtown with things like a grocery store, then urban living is going to be an exciting thing.


Nagano expects the restaurant and bar industry to approach a saturation point soon, but says demand will increase again once condos fill up and the planned Kendall Yards mixed-use development moves ahead.


Theres so many people in the region that we can draw into the downtown core to support all of this, he says. Nobody is really falling by the wayside yet.


Macapagal says finding ways to keep the momentum going is the biggest challenge. One of the advantages for operators here, compared with those in other cities, is that many of them view competition as mutually beneficial, he says.


If everybody realizes that we can keep this going by continuing to invest in downtown, then we can keep it going, he says. As long as you keep stirring things up and making them different and fresh, rather than ignoring your customers or competing with each other too much, then its going to sustain itself for quite some time.


Shaver says she welcomes more bars downtown, but adds that the area needs more upscale restaurants as well, because eateries typically are more of a destination spot for people than bars.


More bars for me is better, because it keeps me on my toes, she says. We want it to grow, but at the right time and speed, and with more places than just bars.


Contact Emily Brandler at (509) 344-1265 or via e-mail at emilyb@spokanejournal.com.