IncrediBurger and Eggs celebrates grand opening

Breakfast, burgers and boozy milkshakes make up most of the menu at the new IncrediBurger and Eggs, which celebrates its grand opening in downtown Spokane on Thursday, Feb. 8.

The latest offering from chef and restaurateur Adam Hegsted features a walk-up counter, breakfast sandwiches, gourmet burgers and 12 taps for beer and cider as well as kombucha and cold brew.

“We wanted this to be a little more casual and fun, but still high quality,” said Hegsted, who’s partnering with developer Jerry Dicker on the project. The soft launch was Saturday.

The new breakfast-and-burger joint is located in the space that formerly held Dempsey’s Brass Rail. The bar and night club went out of business in 2011, and Dicker bought the building in 2015.

The newly renovated space is done in dark gray, black and brick. Custom-made dark wood tables fill the dining area, which holds about 80 patrons. Sidewalk seating in summer will hold about 20 more. And there’s room for 14 on stools at the walnut bar, which also features four wines on tap – two reds and two whites.

Black subway tile lines the back bar as well as the bathroom walls. Walls in the restaurant are exposed brick or brick painted with a charcoal color. A figure of flapper is painted on one of them to evoke the 1920s.

“We wanted it to feel like old Spokane,” Hegsted said.

A lighted accent wall in the dining room features the bases of about 1,400 beer bottles, adding a geometric element and evoking the vintage glass prisms that once were set into sidewalks to let light into underground vaults and basements below. An oversize roll-top door opens onto West First Avenue, letting in plenty of natural light. And the large-screen TV is set off with a thick frame.

“We wanted to incorporate it like a piece of art instead of just a big TV on the wall,” Hegsted said.

Customers receive a number and an electronic buzzer when they order.

IncrediBurger isn’t a fast-casual restaurant, Hegsted said. It’s more like a semi-fast-casual restaurant.

“We tried to keep the menu a little limited,” Hegsted said, “so people can get in and get out” – particularly folks who work downtown and are looking to grab a quick, or semi-quick, bite to eat for breakfast or lunch.

Still, Hegsted said, “We’re frying the onion rings to order, and the fries. We’re hand-breading the chicken tenders to order, and the pickles.”

IncrediBurger is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week. But it won’t stay open late. Hours are 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. Breakfast and burgers are available all day.

The most expensive item on the menu is $8.99. It’s a salad. The idea is to keep price points approachable, Hegsted said. He said he wants IncrediBurger to be the kind of spot people frequent once a week, not once a year.

So starters and sides range from $2.99 to $7.99. They are: fried pickles, beef-fat french fries, sweet-potato tots, poutine, vodka-battered onion rings, twice-fried chicken tenders and walnut hummus with whipped feta, pita bread and pomegranate syrup.

Burger patties are fashioned from Washington beef and seasoned with umami seasoning. The signature burger is called Pure Gold. It’s $7.99. It features black truffle foie gras mayo, aged cheddar and chianti jam.

Burgers are quarter-pounders, or bigger than sliders but not the typical 8-ounce portion common at many eateries. Burgers range in price from $5.99 to $7.99.

The Classic features shredded lettuce, grilled onions, tomato, ketchup and fried pickles. It’s $5.99. Add cheese or bacon for 99 cents each.

Look, also, for a PB&J burger – with jalapeno jelly, Thai aioli and peanut sauce – and a MexiCali burger with avocado, mole sauce, cabbage slaw, queso fresco and tomato salsa. The Earth and Turf features a beef-and-mushroom patty with caramelized onions, sauteed mushrooms, Gruyere cheese, pickles and mushroom mayo. There are fish, chickpea and chicken hand-helds, too – as well as something called a PigMac featuring two beef-and-pork patties.

The $8.99 salad is called the 21 because it includes 21 different ingredients, including walnuts, feta, arugula, mint, oregano, beets, onion and more, all tossed with a pomegranate dressing.

Milkshakes – they’re $3.99 – come in a bunch of flavors: peanut butter banana, toasted honey butter, chocolate-avocado, Nutella, bacon maple, birthday cake. And that’s just the non-boozy ones.

In addition to “adult” milkshakes, IncrediBurger will specialize in breakfast drinks, such as mimosas and bloody marys. It will have a full bar, but it won’t carry extensive varieties of spirits. The Sapphire Lounge at the Hotel Ruby next door as well as Gilded Unicorn nearby both specialize in cocktails, and Dicker and Hegsted don’t want this establishment to compete with their other offerings. Dicker owns the Ruby as well as the Montvale Hotel, home to Gilded Unicorn, which Hegsted owns.

The IncrediBurger space required a deep cleaning after remaining unused for years after the night club closed. “It was pretty rundown and filthy,” Hegsted said. “We took it down to the bare bones. The floor had to be redone because it was different heights.”

The kitchen has been completely redone, with all new appliances and wall coverings.

Opening chefs will be Matt Mayer and Aaron Fish. They expect to help get things going for the first two or three months, then fill in as needed.

Mayer has worked for Hegsted’s Eat Good Group of restaurants “since day one.” He helped open Yards Bruncheon in Kendall Yards as well as Gilded Unicorn in downtown Spokane and Farmhouse Kitchen and Silo Bar in Ponderay.

“Now I’m opening this,” he said. “That is what I do now – open new places.”

Mayer and Fish, who comes from Eat Good’s catering kitchen, will handle operations.

Craig Denney, who helped open Wandering Table, is the general manager.

Breakfast items include egg sandwiches, such as bacon and cheese or sausage and cheese, each for $4.99. The South Hill features chives, cheddar, caramelized onions and Sriracha mayo on a brioche bun.

The Panwich features house-made turkey sausage, cheddar, smoky aioli on a mini pancake “bun.” The Brunchburger features a beef patty, egg, caramelized onions, apple wood-smoked bacon, cheddar and Dijonaise, also on a pancake “bun.”

Look, also, for a crispy fried chicken sammy with egg, cheddar and honey-mustard aioli on a biscuit, chocolate doughnuts fried to order, home fries and assorted breakfast bowls: acai with Greek yogurt and granola, poutine with bacon and cheese curds, and chicken-and-pancake with two eggs and honey butter. The Texan features mole sauce, chorizo, eggs, cilantro, avocado, cotija cheese and salsa.

Hegsted also owns or is a partner in Wandering Table, Yards Bruncheon and Gilded Unicorn in Spokane; Farmhouse Kitchen and Silo Bar in Ponderay, Eat Good Cafe in Liberty Lake, Republic Kitchen and Taphouse in Post Falls, and Le Catering, a catering company.

IncrediBurger is at 909 W. First Ave. On the web: incrediburgerandeggs.com. On Facebook: www.facebook.com/incrediburgerandeggs.