Makena’s Restaurant Offers A Northwest Menu With A Healthy Dollop Of The Tropics

College students homesick for Hawaii spot Makena’s Restaurant in the Yellow Pages and call, craving mahi mahi or lomi lomi salmon.

But co-owner Daina Toevs has to break it to them: “We’re not really a Hawaiian restaurant.”

That’s not to say that the Hawaiian name and palm trees on the Spokane Valley restaurant’s sign at E11723 Sprague are misleading.

The 10-year-old restaurant does offer mahi mahi and teriyaki chicken. And they cater luaus.

But the menu is mostly “Northwest cuisine with a taste of the tropics,” said Daina’s husband and co-owner Ken Toevs.

The couple named their restaurant after the Makena Beach, on the west side of Maui, Hawaii, where Ken had lived two years before marrying Daina.

After marriage, they spent five years of snorkeling, surfing and learning about the restaurant business while working at different eateries on Oahu.

The Toevs (pronounced “TAYvs”) left the beaches behind to live closer to their families and to raise a family in the Valley.

They brought with them an appreciation for cultural diversity, lighter cooking and island flavors.

Daina, formerly of Richland, said she enjoyed living among many cultures. “I got to go get exposure to different accents and voices.”

They stayed for five years - though they had only planned to stay for one. “We were young, we had just gotten married, and we were looking for adventure,” Ken said.

“The Hawaii experience definitely influenced the cuisine,” he said of Makena’s, which is decorated with colorful fish, nets and bright birds.

They cook with fresh fruits and vegetables, not just heavy cream-based sauces, he said.

The menu is flavored with teriyaki, curry, coconut and papaya.

Makena’s is one of the Valley’s better known restaurants because of its unusual niche.

But Spokane’s reception to lighter fare has been somewhat tentative.

“People don’t quite know what to do with us,” Daina said.

“The Valley is still a meat and potatoes place,” said Ken.

“I like meat and potatoes too, just not every day,” added Daina. Makena’s menu includes many fish dishes in addition to steaks.

Business is a little slower than last year, but they attribute that to increased competition in the Valley. Daina Toevs also said she has seen a slight decline in the percentage of people who go out to eat and drink.

“The Valley’s changing a lot,” Ken Toevs said. He estimates that there were 30 percent less restaurants now than there were when they started.

“As the Valley develops,” he said, “it keeps people in the Valley more.”

They’ve got one advantage over some downtown restaurants: “We have free parking,” Daina said, laughing.

Ken Toevs had studied restaurant management at Washington State University with the dream of someday opening his own place.

“I liked the idea of creativity,” he said, “and I like to cook.”

“He’s a good cook,” said his wife.

“Thank you, Daina,” he said, nodding.

“I can cook,” she said, “but he can cook.”

Just as they’re in sync when talking together, they’re on the same wavelength when it comes to business.

Their working relationship has developed over the last decade: Each has clear-cut separate duties.

Ken Toevs likes the restaurant business because people come to the restaurant to have a good time.

“I like doing something where people patronize your business because they want to,” he said, “not because they have to.”

And like many small business owners, they enjoy making executive decisions and the freedom to test new ideas.

He pointed at the brightly colored fabric dividers between the booths. They had discussed the idea briefly before sewing them.

“We didn’t have to go through a corporate office to do it,” he said.

Making improvements isn’t just to make the restaurant more appealing to customers, it also provides a needed challenge for the Toevs.

“How do you keep it interesting?” Ken asked.

Other restaurateurs may dabble in menu-planning or pen cookbooks, he said, but the Toevs are focusing on the restaurant’s catering endeavor.

They’ve done theme dinners that center around different kinds of wines or beers.

And in the summer, they throw a luau-inspired patio party where people from Hawaii can feel right at home.