While the deli at Main Market Co-Op (44 W. Main Ave., Spokane) might be open for three meals each day, eating there for lunch satisfies me the most. Ingredients used here are of the highest quality — much of it is organic, local, fresh, scratch-made and eco-friendly.
If you want the feeling of a buffet without any of the unfortunate side effects, try the three-salad sampler ($9 per pound). You can’t go wrong with the pesto pasta salad and the coriander crusted cauliflower. Combo lunches ($7) are another great way to go here: one scoop of any salad and a cup of soup, half of a sandwich and one scoop of salad, or half of a sandwich and a cup of soup.
Sandwiches include roast beef, tuna, grilled cheese, Italian and pastrami, and all of the deli meat is nitrite-free. There are also vegetarian options available. I couldn’t resist the pastrami sandwich paired with a scoop of sinfully good bleu cheese potato salad.
If you’re down in Moscow, you really must get your mangia on at Stax (402 W. 6th St., Moscow), a soup, salad and sandwich shop open from 10 am to 3 pm. Each day Stax has one to four soups available, and the restaurant’s sandwich menu caters to vegetarians — who should try the The Skinny Tinney ($5.79/$7.79) — and to omnivores, who might go for The Fat Tinney, a monster made of roast beef, pastrami, ham and turkey ($7.50/$9.50). You can’t go wrong with the grilled crab sandwich ($6.25/$8.95). As this restaurant’s playful name promises, the sandwiches are stacked, almost overflowing with goodness.
And here’s a somewhat under-the-radar option: The café in the MAC, which is appropriately named Café MAC (2316 W. 1st Ave., Spokane). It’s open from 11 am to 4 pm, Wednesday through Saturday, and patrons can eat at the café without paying admission to the MAC. The fare at Café MAC is Middle Eastern and American, and the prices won’t break the bank. The restaurant serves up beef and lamb gyros ($7.25), but maybe you could give the jadra a shot ($7): a lentil and rice pilaf dish topped with Lebanese salad. The MAC is full of cultural treasures and that extends to the food it serves.
