Downtown institution Domini Sandwiches closing in December

The most famous sliced meat of the Lilac City, and a side of free popcorn, will soon vacate downtown Spokane.

Domini’s Sandwiches, a family-legacy business that has served generations of customers, will officially close on Dec. 6, owner Tom “Tommy” Domini said.

“It’s going to be sad,” said Domini, 67, who has been looking to sell for some time. “I’m sure I will be crying and hugging everybody. I’ve been here for 50 years.”

Domini’s built an institution through customer service, a sandwich that will stretch any stomach and a menu that changed slower than glacial melting.

It’s anchored the spot at 703 W. Sprague Ave., on the first floor of the Washington Trust building, for more than 60 years.

But Domini has been looking for someone to buy his business for more than a year.

He said he couldn’t go into details about the potential buyer, who has his permission to carry the Domini name and its signature sandwiches.

The next owner, however, won’t be operating at the current location in the Washington Trust building.

“The bank decided they wanted to keep that space, so we couldn’t continue operating in this location,” Domini said.

Despite the uncertainty, Domini said he’s ready to leave the early mornings and long hours behind.

“It’s time. You’ve got to do something with the rest of your life,” Domini said. “I feel bad for my employees. They have been with me through thick and thin. I’m going to treat them well, too. It’s just a shame.”

A legacy meeting place

Domini’s dining room just before noon on Friday mostly had empty booths.

But the one in back was patronized by Mike and Mike, both retired Spokane bankers.

“My first job interview was with (AgWest) Farm Credit in 1979,” said Mike Palmer. “For lunch, they brought me here.”

Palmer has been meeting Mike Ekins once a week since then. For a long time, the Mikes joined a group of five who always took a corner booth.

“It’s that familiarity – it feels like home,” Ekins said.

One of the Domini’s employees knows the Fiat that Palmer drives, which she refers to as the “clown car.”

Just like most regular customers, their favorite sandwiches are already being prepared as they enter the restaurant.

“I brought a client here and they ordered a small. (The client) said, ‘Geez, that’s a big sandwich,’ ” Palmer said. “We started coming here when Al ran it. Then Joe (Domini) was here for a while, cousin Bobby (Bruce) and Tom. The room always smelled like fresh popcorn.”

Over the years, the “Mikes” have seen changes, not only to Domini’s, but the overall logistics of downtown.

“It used to be, you had to be here no later than 11:30 a.m. to get a place to sit,” Ekins said. “There used to be more people working downtown. But it’s good for us. We always get a seat. But in the old days? No way.”

He noted that Domini’s had a unique way of shaming customers who wrote a bad check. They simply taped the returned check to the post above the cash register with the name showing for all the other customers to see.

“You couldn’t hold your head up in Spokane,” Ekins said of those who bounced checks.

The “Mikes” were unaware until Friday of Domini’s pending closing on Dec. 6.

“It will be the second ‘Day of Infamy,’ when Domini’s closes” Ekins said, referring to the Dec. 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor attack.

Gerrit Kischner, an educator from Seattle who was in Spokane to take a class at Washington State University Spokane, said he knew nothing of Domini’s lore. He just needed lunch on Friday and saw the place.

“I did not expect it to be that big,” Kischner said of his Reuben sandwich. “The bread is great.”

Kischner mostly eats a vegetarian diet.

“I did look for a salad on the menu. I didn’t see it. I didn’t ask any further,” he said.

Michelle Petretee was getting her regular – roast beef and cheddar on French bread with mayonnaise – and had a bag of sandwiches for others on Friday. It was her second visit to Domini’s this week.

“I’ve been coming here since I got my driver’s license when I was 16,” she said.

Petretree, a manager and a member of the family that owns Trudeau’s Marina, said the two businesses have been linked by history.

“We were founded in 1948. They’ve been here since we’ve been there,” Petretee said. “My parents ate here. My son eats here. My grandson eats here. You can’t get roast beef like this. It’s made fresh every day.”

Petretree said few places anywhere can see a customer and start the order.

“When they see me, they start making it,” she said of her sandwich.

‘Spokane’s loss’

The restaurant was founded in 1947 as the Stockholm Bar on Howard Street by Tom’s father, Al Domini, and uncle Fred Domini. That business competed with another set of Domini brothers, who ran the New Deal around the corner.

A fire in 1962 at the business next door ended Domini’s tavern. It reopened in 1963 as Domini Sandwiches at 703 W. Sprague Ave.

It moved for a couple years to the Davenport Hotel, which coincided with Expo ’74, but returned to West Sprague in 1975 after a major renovation to the Washington Trust building.

Brother Joe Domini left Spokane in 1970 and earned a psychology degree at the University of Washington before returning home in 1992 to help run the sandwich business. He retired in 2013 and moved to Phoenix.

Joe Domini said he was waiting to play tennis about six months ago in Phoenix when he overheard a woman in the group ahead of him talking about how she often visits Spokane and always goes to Domini’s.

“I’m standing around listening to this lady’s conversation. I said, ‘I’m part of the family.’ She was shocked,” Domini said. “She thought it was funnier than hell.”

He said it was a reminder of all the customers who have come through, including movie stars, former Seattle Supersonics player Jack Sikma and even the late Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda, who patronized Domini’s when he was in Spokane managing the Dodgers’ farm team in the early 1970s.

The restaurant would stay open for Hoopfest, Lilac Parades and even take orders for the University of Washington band. The biggest order topped 2,000 sandwiches, he said.

But Joe Domini said he’s happy for his little brother.

“Yeah, he needs a break,” Joe said of Tom. “I think he would have rather sold it and had someone keep it going. It’s Spokane’s loss, too.”

Passing the bun

Domini said the new owner has his blessing to carry the name and signature sandwiches that customers have embraced over the decades.

Before that can happen, however, the prospective owner needs to find a location.

“I don’t think it will be downtown,” Tom Domini said. “It’s just too hard to find a location that is safe enough, and it’s expensive.”

He’ll help the new owner get set up and work with them to learn the processes.

In the meantime, customers only have until Dec. 6 to order Domini’s signature sandwiches.

“Hopefully, people will come in to say, ‘Thank you.’ Some have been coming here for 40 or 50 years. It’s incredible,” Tom Domini said.

“I love my job. It’s been a great experience.”