Eagle Bites is new Cheney food delivery service

CHENEY - Not only have Derek and wife Alexx Baziotis successfully steered one business through the COVID-19 quagmire, but out of that challenge has emerged a new venture.

The Baziotis own and are on the frontlines at Bene's Restaurant, a breakfast-focused eatery where Eggs Benedict are the signature dish - hence the name. It opened in 2017.

Now Eagle Bites, Cheney's first food delivery service, has been hatched.

That Plato-authored proverb, "Necessity is the mother of invention" might just be part of the glue that is maybe helping cement Bene's, as well as some of the rest of the city's sit-down food purveyors' future, helping keep the lights on?

Weeks before Gov. Jay Inslee initiated the two-week shutdown No. 2 on Nov. 15, the delivery wheels had been turning. Baziotis connected with other Cheney eateries like The Barrelhouse and Zips suggesting to them Spokane-based Treehouse Deliveries was interested in branching out.

Circumstances at the time made that idea fizzle out but interest flickered back about the time the governor extended his directive to end Jan. 4, 2021. With money from Spokane County - and help from Treehouse who tuned Baziotis onto Data Dreamers software - Eagle Bites was launched.

"I called Curt (Griffin at Zips), I called Mike (Lyons at Barrelhouse), I called all the local guys and said, 'Hey, I'm gonna' throw a knife in the wall and see if it sticks,'" Baziotis said.

So far, the start has been good, but pleasantly slow, Baziotis explained, allowing Eagle Bites to work through any hiccups. Without the usual number of students at Eastern Washington University as the school conducts classes mainly online, "It lets us figure out the wrinkles when it comes to the delivery and how the software works," Baziotis added. He's certain delivery will be really popular when students return.

Using a combination of his current Bene's staff, as well as some others, Eagle Bites drivers currently deliver up to 8.75 miles from Cheney. That includes the Petro area and Medical Lake with is a $5 base delivery fee and then $1 for everything over five miles.

When Baziotis opened Bene's he did so with the idea to change the habits of Cheney residents, hoping they would step out to dine more, particularly for breakfast. "It's the same thing with the delivery because people weren't used to it," Baziotis said.

More information on Eagle Bites can be found by visiting http://www.eaglebites.com.

Paul Delaney is a retired former Free Press reporter and can be reached at pauldelaney53@comcast.net.