Capitol Bar & Grill

Capitol just opened in the old Boomers location in Spokane Valley, and the renovation looks great. My son and I went a few days in, on a Thursday night, and the place was rocking — service still on the spot, beers ice cold, and both my fish and chips and his blackened salmon were great. My one criticism: I'd have taken three pieces of cod and half the fries, which came heaped on the plate.

Capitol is the fourth restaurant from Raci Erdem, who opened The White House Grill in Post Falls in 1996 and built a small government-themed family out of it — the Pentagon in Liberty Lake, the Oval Office back in Post Falls. It's the first one he hasn't done alone: his nephew Emre Basar came in as a partner after fifteen years working alongside him. The kitchen runs elevated-casual, with Mexican potato croquettes, a flat iron steak in mushroom bourbon whiskey sauce, and the French onion soup carried over from the White House.

It opened August 5, so the kitchen is still finding its rhythm — and it's a sports room by design, with televisions, a jukebox, a pool table, and cornhole. Appleway and Barker on a game night is not where you go for a quiet conversation. Go for what it is instead: a big, busy, well-run bar and grill with a serious cook behind it.