New eatery to openin Lincoln Heights

A Mexican restaurant owner is opening up a second eatery on the South Hill, while closing one in Coeur d’Alene. 

Miguel Amador, who owns a Fiesta Mexicana restaurant at 1227 S. Grand, plans to open Miguel’s Mexican Restaurant & Tequileria in the Lincoln Heights area by the end of March. Meanwhile, he says a Fiesta Mexicana eatery he owns in Coeur d’Alene, located at 2605 N. 4th, will close near the end of this month.

Amador is leasing about 3,000 square feet of space formerly occupied by an eatery called Vin Rouge, located at 3029 E. 29th. He says Miguel’s will feature more than 100 different tequilas and have a slightly different menu than Fiesta Mexicana.

The new restaurant, which will seat about 94 people, will employ 10 to 12 workers, Amador says, which is about the same number employed at each of the other two eateries. About seven employees at the Coeur d’Alene eatery plan to work at Miguel’s, Amador says. 

Amador says a main reason for closing the Coeur d’Alene Fiesta Mexicana, which opened about eight years ago, is the difficulty in obtaining an Idaho liquor license to sell hard liquor drinks, though it has sold beer and wine.

—Treva Lind

Collectibles retailer debuts on Monroe

Spokane businessman Roger Villareal, owner of T Dog Enterprises, has opened a secondhand shop called T’s Recyclery in the Dresden Building, at 703 N. Monroe. The shop opened in late December, Villareal says. 

Located in a leased 1,000-square-foot space, T’s Recyclery has a variety of estate auction items for sale, such as jewelry, some antiques, bicycles, and furniture. 

Villareal is the only employee at the shop, he says.

Villareal says he got the idea for the store because shopping at estate sales was already his hobby. Villareal gets all the items himself from auctions, he says, and doesn’t purchase any of the merchandise new. 

“I just like going to auctions; it’s fun,” Villareal says. “I needed an outlet for it. I was going to do it all online, but then I got this space, and I figured it was a good spot.”

Prior to opening the shop, Villareal co-owned a dog grooming and coffee shop business on the South Hill called Barks and Beans with partner Kimmie Brown. Villareal sold his portion if the business to Brown last year, he says, and the business has subsequently closed. 

For the future, Villareal says he is focused on growing the secondhand shop.

“It’s taking care of me and itself,” he says. “For this type of thing, this will probably be a sole enterprise.”

 

—Katie Ross

Chiropractor office moves on South Hill

Applied Healthcare Associates PS, a Spokane-based chiropractic and wellness provider, has moved into a larger building on Spokane’s South Hill. 

Darlene Morehouse, the company’s operations manager, says the chiropractic practice, owned by her husband Keith Morehouse, now occupies 7,000 square feet at 1303 S. Grand. The office relocated this week from a 1,700-square-foot office space at 1403 S. Grand. It provides chiropractic care, therapeutic massage, rehabilitation services, and athletic training.

Morehouse says she and her husband formed Tenowa Properties LLC to buy the two-story building in August. She declines to disclose the building’s purchase price. She says the new facility has 12 treatment rooms, upper- and lower-level lobbies, and some open therapy space.

Doing business now as Applied Health Associates, it employs 11 people. In addition to Keith Morehouse, two other chiropractic providers, Taylor Mortlock and Kyle Bryant, work there. The office also has four licensed massage therapists and office support workers. 

 

—Treva Lind

Longtime lawyer opens new practice

Spokane attorney Steve Schneider has opened a law and mediation practice on the second floor of the Liberty Building, at 203 N. Washington, in downtown Spokane. 

Schneider’s practice, operating as Steve Schneider, Attorney at Law PS, handles a wide range of business law, real property law, contract law, private and commercial bankruptcy cases, and litigation. Schneider also performs alternative dispute resolution, doing business as Spokane Mediation.

Schneider is licensed to practice in federal and state courts in both Washington and Idaho. He says that while he is based in Spokane, he often travels to see clients.

The leased, 600-square-foot law office is located above Auntie’s Bookstore and includes a reception area, a conference room, and a large office. The law firm employs three people: Schneider, a licensed paralegal, and a part-time administrative assistant. 

Schneider began practicing law in Spokane just over two decades ago, after earning his law degree from the Gonzaga University School of Law in 1993. Schneider also has received training in mediation at Pepperdine University. Before starting his own firm, he most recently worked as a partner at Murphy, Bantz & Bury PLLC, of Spokane.

“As other partners moved on, I decided to strike out on my own,” Schneider says. “This is my first solo practice, and I decided to do something new by combining mediation and law practice.”

 

—Lucas Thayer

Crazy G’s folds shop after five years here

Crazy G’s, an independent restaurant specializing in burgers, cheesesteak sandwiches, and hotdogs, has closed.

Co-owner Gary Swiss says he plans to re-enter retirement after running the restaurant he and his wife, Chris, founded nearly five years ago.

Swiss cited an overall decline in restaurant business, increasing costs, a growing number of national fast-food competitors, and other economic uncertainties in the decision to close the restaurant, which had been located at 821 N. Division, in 1,800 square feet of space previously occupied by The Sourdough Place.

“The population here isn’t getting much bigger, but the pie is smaller,” he says. “Our lease is up, and rather than worry about what’s going on, we’re going out on top before we get in dire straits.”

Swiss originally retired from an engineering career in Arizona. After moving to Spokane, he decided to fulfill his dream of running a premium burger restaurant at the age of 56. The Swisses opened Crazy G’s in the spring of 2009, 

Crazy G’s featured signature charbroiled Angus beef burgers with various toppings, including burgers named Crazy, Super Crazy, and Certifiably Crazy.

Swiss says he’s accomplished what he set out to do with the restaurant.

“We’ve won awards and have a tremendous following,” he says.

 

—Mike McLean