Classic Cafe' (Deer Park, WA)

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Just north of Spokane is a little town called Deer Park, and on a recent rainy day, I got to drive there with some friends.  The drive was so pretty.  Our destination was to be a little cafe/coffee shop that we had just heard about, called the Classic.  It is located at 502 S. Main Street.



The place was packed, but not at first.  Apparently, a lot of folks thought it was a nice spot to visit on a rainy day.  They have both indoor and outdoor seating and a drive-thru window.
 At the Classic Cafe, they serve breakfast, ice cream, sandwiches of all kinds, soup and coffee/espresso type of things.  In addition, there are lots of flavors for shakes and Italian sodas too.
Some of us in my group of four had lunch.
This is chili... served with these really interesting "garlic rounds."
Two of us shared a spinach Greek Wrap.  Yum!
Here is only half.

Wraps are served with chips and a pickle, though I read in the menu that you can substitute a small salad for the chips if you'd like.  This wrap was delicious.
We also had coffee, (no photo) and we sampled some treats which we shared.

Below you see the Monkey Bread and an Espresso Brownie.


See the t-shirts on the wall?  Apparently, they make a humongous breakfast platter that they challenge individuals to "master," and whereupon mastering you are entitled to flaunt the feat with a T-shirt.  Our lovely waitress informed us that she had tried it once, and only once.... because it was really really big, but she did it!


  

Anthony's

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Anthony's... at Spokane Falls.

One lovely summer day, while walking the bridge in Riverfront Park with some friends, we spotted it...Anthony's.  One friend said, "Oh, wouldn't it be lovely to sit under those umbrellas outdoors and watch the rapids on the river?" Well, all present agreed and the next thing we knew, we had an outing planned for lunch at Anthony's.  

Anthony's is located at 510 N. Lincoln, in downtown Spokane.  Their specialty is seafood.    I just learned that Anthony's is a chain of restaurants and while each is said to be unique, there are 22 of them.

I have often heard people talk fondly about this place and was kinda excited that finally I would get to go and see it for myself.

It was a great lunch, although even before making group reservations I had reservations... for the reviews I had read on the internet about this place were not exceptionally flattering.  I did feel better when I asked one man in the parking area how his lunch was.  He answered saying,  "Great!  I had the fish."

I laughed.

The place was busy and parking was a hassle.  I thought that they had valet parking, but they only have valet parking for dinner, although their webpage that I looked at did not tell me this.  It simply said, 
"""Anthony’s at Spokane Falls offers complimentary valet parking while dining at the restaurant."   
So, we had to spend a lot of time looking for a parking spot.  If your there for lunch and you do not park in their lot... the only parking around is parking you have to pay for.  It's a downtown thing, you know.

We had a large group and they had sat us indoors.  This was actually fine for us because we did go outsides and it was a rather hot day and it was cooler indoors.  But so much for sitting under one of those little green umbrellas overlooking the Spokane river for lunch.   We did go outside afterwards and enjoy the spectacular view.

Now for lunch....  did I mention, "It was great!"?

This is a soup bowl and salad... clam chowder.

 Fish Taco and Chips.. with salsa.
 Shrimp Alfredo....

 Chicken Caesar
Here is a beautiful salad.


 and did i mention, "It was great!"?

We also had some desserts.  Anthony's other specialty is peaches.  Pictured below is ice cream and cobbler.... both featuring fresh peaches.


And, if you are looking for that view...S P E C T A C U L A R !

Ben's Yogurt and Deli

To contact us Click HERE
Today, it was all about the deli.... I mean there I was hungry for lunch and there was Ben's, just waiting for hungry ol me.  So this time, instead of driving past, I went in.

 They have a great selection.  One customer who was eating saw that it was my first time here and told me he goes there often... loves the food, and that is really fresh.  He was right.  It is good.
I had a veggie wrap....with cheese and avocado.. and all the veggie fix-ins... "To Go."

Ben's is great.  It's clean, friendly fast and fun.... (I happen to think of frozen yo cream yogurt with toppings as "fun.")


I had driven past many a time in my travels around town and I had heard rumor too that this was a great little spot.  I just had to try it for lunch, and as advertised, it was very good!  But the best to me, is the frozen yogurt.... just ask Geo   Yo Cream frozen yogurt is become a once a week adventure for us.


Yo Cream is 25 calories per ounce, made with real fruit ingredients, uses no rBST and contains live cultures.... so it is good food!

Ben only has six flavors (as compared to some yogurt shops that have maybe twelve or ten, but he has toppings galore! The fresh fruit stand even offered blackberries that day, yum!  And I noted too that he has good sanitation practices.  He has signs requesting for parents to assist younger children and he keeps a hand sanitizing station right next to the self serve machines.  I liked that part a lot.


I found Ben's to be a friendly neighborhood mom-and-pop type of food stop with the added plus of offering self-serve frozen yogurt.

Paul Bunyan (Coeur d'Alene,Is)

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The sign for this place is as big as....well, need I say, Paul Bunyan.  On second thought, it is actually bigger than the legend says he was.  All I know is that this is one big sign!  You cannot miss Paul Bunyan's Pak Out when driving along Northwest Blvd in Coeur d' Alene.

Paul Bunyan, as you folklore buffs may know, was a very large lumberjack who traveled with his Blue Ox named Babe.  There are some photos of lumberjacks around the restaurant inside.  Evidently, the owners in the past have had connection to the logging industry, and those loggers work so hard, they probably needed a great little sandwich shop to eat at. back in the 1950's when this place got it's start.


 It's a small spot, looks and feels like it's been here a while, but I was truly surprised at how busy the place was.  I watched with amazement as car after car drove up to the "Pak Out" window and the little place filled up inside too.






 It's your typical burgers and fries kinda place....
We had burgers.  Geo had the Paul Bunyan Burger... on the right.... and I had the "Deluxe."
We also had onion rings and a huckleberry shake.



The burgers were.... burgers, but the shake was amazings as were the onion rings.










In typical local NW fashion, they had all the necessary dipping sauces  to offer too.




















So this is Paul Bunyan's. Coeur d'Alene.  However, I saw there is another Paul Bunyan burget place on my way to Sandpoint.  That Paul. He gets around.

Bonsai Asian Bistro (Coeur d'Alene ID)

To contact us Click HERE
 The Bonsai Asian Bistro is located in Coeur d'Alene, ID.  I have blogged them before, but when out with friends enjoying a beautiful day by the lake, it seemed like a good thing to revisit them when we got hungry for lunch.  This time, instead of going to the Bonsai at nighttime, it was midday!

This place is located at 115 S. 2nd St, near the waterfront downtown area.    It's easy to walk to from the beach and boardwalk area.   Of course, the real draw to return, for me personally, was to add to my day the experience of the lovely little stream that runs through the lower level of the restaurant.  I love that feature!  Besides that, Asian food just sounded like fun to eat with friends.


Outside seating is a possibility too... when the weasther is like it was on this day, and there is a lovely little brooke that makes its way past your tables when you do, but if you eat inside.... upstairs you have a great view of the water... and downstairs....



                                  you get to
                              dine with turtles
                                   and fish!





 Last time, as well as this time, I really enjoyed the living turtles and the fish that swim in the water and bask on the rocks while you eat.
They had an extensive menu... making it hard to select, so we went with the three dish special, and so did our friends.
 Among our selections were the Carmelized Garlic Noodles, General Tso's Chicken, Tempura Vegetables, Kung Pao Chiclen, and Mongolian Beef and Carmelized Garlic Noodles with Prawns... with rice, both sticky rice and brown rice.



 and just when you thought that dinner was over... you can pick whether or not to have dessert!
We decided on the Mt. Fugi Molten Madness and the Bonsai Cheesecake Brulee.

Mt. Fuji exploding with chocolaty flavor.

Cheesecake Brulee

It was great fun to revisit Bonsai again.
Read the first TASTY TREK visit here.