Eat All About It: Kennewick’s Village Bistro open for dinner

A popular Kennewick breakfast and lunch spot has added a dinner menu to its repertoire.

The Village Bistro, at 5215 W. Clearwater Ave. in the Marineland shopping center, is open as late at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays to serve dinner, co-owner Kara Vogt said.

The new offering debuted earlier this month, and while dinner service has been a little slower than desired because word is still getting out, Vogt said she’s happy with how it’s going.

“The feedback has been amazing,” she said.

Much of the dinner menu, which tends toward American and Italian fare, is fresh and made from scratch in the restaurant. The homemade manicotti has proven popular as has the pasta primavera, but there’s also an ahi tuna and New York strip steak.

“We’re having a little fun with different entrees,” Kara Vogt said.

Appetizers include a lump crab dip and flatbread with mozzarella. Entree prices range from $11 to $22.

Vogt and her husband, Ryan Vogt, bought what was once called the The Village Deli and Cafe earlier this year. They revamped the menu, offering standards such as biscuits and gravy, but also crafting their own selection of specialty sandwiches, such as the California Turkey and Alpine Dipper. A baker was hired to create fresh pastries.

Kara Vogt said the addition of dinner was partly to meet requests from customers but also to help out employees; the additional work means Village Bistro’s cooks will have enough hours to work a full schedule.

Live entertainment added to Pasco’s Food Truck Friday

Pasco’s Food Truck Friday is no longer just about grabbing a bite, but also hearing some beats.

The weekly food truck gathering at Pasco’s downtown farmers market space recently added live music and dance acts to the event’s offerings, a news release said. That’s in addition to the bookmobile of the Mid-Columbia Libraries offering live book readings, which began earlier this summer.

Despite being the Tri-Cities’ original regular food truck gathering and one of the largest, some customers had begun drifting away from Food Truck Friday in recent weeks because they expect the event to be larger, said Marilou Shea, director of the Pasco Specialty Kitchen, which oversees the event.

That’s led to dropping sales and concerns from vendors, and organizers asked them what they could do to drive up interest.

“Entertainment was at the top of those suggestions,” Shea said.

Sales were already up July 15, the first day of the new offerings. Kennewick Dance Connection performed two shows, and there was also an open mic for an hour for other artists to perform.

While saying that the addition of entertainment was a needed component, organizers encouraged people to keep supporting the food trucks at the event, because that’s the only way to keep Food Truck Friday alive.

This story was originally published July 19, 2016 at 6:16 PM with the headline "Eat All About It: Kennewick’s Village Bistro open for dinner."