Three new vendors to provide variety from coffee to Mexican food to ice cream
By GRACE POHL
Staff Intern
The Northern Quest Resort & Casino is expanding their horizons with food court options, including Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream, Thomas Hammer Coffee Roasters and Qdoba Mexican Eats.
About $1.5 million is going towards the expansion as part of a larger $20 million project and is scheduled to open at the end of June.
“We’re excited to partner with several amazing local owners on these new dining options at Northern Quest,” Brandon Haugen, general manager of Kalispel Development Company, said in a news release. “We believe the expanded food court is the perfect gateway to tie-in our existing casino to our impressive new family-friendly southeast expansion project. Ben & Jerry’s, Thomas Hammer and Qdoba will be located right next door to Kids Quest and Cyber Quest, our new hourly children’s entertainment center and arcade.”
Local owner and franchisee of Ben & Jerry’s, Kari Conner, ran her first shop in downtown Spokane at Riverpark Square for 14 years. The new location at Northern Quest supplies around 10 additional jobs. Conner will own and run the shop, while leasing the space from the Kalispel Tribe.
“I’m excited about the opportunity to expand Ben & Jerry’s service to the West Plains,” Conner said in a release. “The new expansion at Northern Quest will bring kids and families to the resort, and that’s a great fit for the world’s best ice cream.”
Thomas Hammer Coffee Roasters is another local company setting up shop at Northern Quest. The coffee company has been in Spokane for 25 years and Thomas Hammer himself grew up in the area and started his career at the Nordstrom Coffee Bar in 1987.
The company now supplies jobs to around 120 people throughout Washington and Idaho and has 18 locations. Northern Quest will manage and operate the new location in the West Plains and adds about 10 jobs.
Qdoba Mexican Eats rounds out the new additions and will join Fatburger as the second franchise business owned and operated by the Kalispel Tribe. The new space will feature 1,000 square feet in the expanded food court. Qdoba serves Mexican food options that include steak, chicken, brisket and ground beef. The company also makes daily Pico De Gallo and handmade guacamole.
Qdoba has over 725 restaurants in 47 states and this one marks the first kind in a casino. The new food option will employ around 25 team members and five management staff.
The Cyber Quest, a family-friendly arcade that has 70 non-violent games, is set to open in June. Kids Quest, a children entertainment center is also slotted to debut in June.
The other attractions, Windfall, a Kalispel Tribe-owned retail store and the movie and dinner theater are set to open in August and September.
For living spaces, the Northern Quest RV resort is debuting in September and the Salish Flats Apartment Community has leasing available in 2019.
Grace Pohl can be reached at grace@cheneyfreepress.com.
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