A north Richland eatery celebrates its first year

It was a visit to a central Richland pub that motivated Roger and Teresa Schott to look for a place to open their own.

A little more than a year later, they couldn’t be happier to have opened That Place Pub & Eatery in north Richland, where they’ve seen the dining options do nothing but expand.

“People were obviously watching us. This part of Richland is developing,” Teresa said.

That Place is in a commercial development near the intersection of Stevens and University drives. There were a few restaurants serving the area before the Schotts found their pub’s future home, but they only offered some breakfast and lunch options. No dinner, no beer or wine, Teresa said.

The couple poured Roger’s 401(k) into renovating what was a shell building at first, diverting a contractor renovating their basement to the project. Both left their jobs — Roger’s at Energy Northwest and Teresa’s with Battelle at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory — to get the restaurant off the ground.

Teresa describe the restaurant’s atmosphere as comfortable, like a living room, thanks to the fireplace and chairs situated around it in one part of the space.

The menu has changed during the year as the couple have played with recipes, but Roger had a hand in crafting many of the items. Customer favorites include Roger’s Nachos, which are made with homemade tortilla chips, the fish and chips and the Atomic Bomb, which is cheese wrapped in risotto and bacon that pairs well with beer, Teresa said.

“(Roger) was adamant we’d have good, homemade food,” she said, acknowledging that hasn’t always led to consistent quality and some negative reviews on the review website Yelp.

Roger has since taken a step back from the restaurant as his health has declined in recent months. Teresa is also looking to return to PNNL.

But the restaurant is going strong and blazed a trail for other eateries in the area, Teresa said. Italian and Greek restaurant Venezia has expanded since That Place moved to the area, and Ethos Trattoria has opened in the same commerical development as the pub. The Lofts apartments down the street are providing regular customers and reports of a proposed hotel and increased traffic from the eventual opening of the national park on the Hanford site.

And the Schotts have a night at a pub to thank.

“It was kismet,” Teresa said.

That Place is open from Monday to Saturday, generally from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. but until 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Prices range from $11 to $30.

Carmike Cinemas

For those needing something stronger than a fountain drink while watching a movie, Kennewick’s Carmike Cinemas may have your ticket.

The movie theater has applied for a license to sell beer and wine, according to the state’s Liquor and Cannabis Board. The license would allow the theater to sell individual drinks to moviegoers that could only be consumed in the theater or its lobby.

Staff at the theater declined to comment and directed questions to Carmike’s home offices.

Gone too soon

Two downtown Kennewick restaurants that opened just this year have shut down and are looking for someone to come in where they left off.

Parks Cafe on Columbia Drive, which focused on diner fare but also offered a lounge, reportedly shut its doors sometime in September. The business, opened by the man who previously owned Jack-Sons Sports Bar & Grill in central Richland, first welcomed customers less than six months ago.

A note that was posted on its front door mentioned that the business had to close because of a family emergency. Ads and a sign in the restaurant’s parking lot have since advertised the “fully-equipped” space as up for lease.

Downtown Pizzeria on Kennewick Avenue closed in early October. Its owners had sought someone to take over the two businesses, saying in Facebook posts they would have to close if there were no takers for the pizzeria and an associated merchant mall. The merchant mall, called A Little of This & That, remains open until the end of October.

This story was originally published October 20, 2015 at 1:01 PM with the headline "A north Richland eatery celebrates its first year."