Iconic Eateries: Spokane favorite Clinkerdagger celebrates 50th anniversary

What’s more welcoming than a traditional restaurant greeting? How about one of the city’s most beloved restaurant’s former version: “Hi, I’m (name), and I’ll be your wench this evening.”

The salutations at Spokane hotspot Clinkerdagger have since changed, thankfully, along with the name.

Soon after opening, the name Clinkerdagger, Bickerstaff & Petts was condensed in an effort to reduce confusion when callers searched phone books.

That culinary “celebration destination,” perfect for birthdays and wedding anniversaries, just celebrated its 50th anniversary.

Along with President Nixon and the Pavilion, it was Spokane’s Expo ’74 that brought the restaurant to the city center.

With its panoramic views overlooking the World’s Fair and Spokane River, the restaurant’s owner at the time, Richard B. Coleman, knew the recently converted Spokane Flour Mill building would be the perfect location for the meat and fish spot.

Clinkerdagger was to take up 6,400 square feet on three parts of one story of the building.

With $40,000 spent on chairs and tables alone, no expenses were spared on the restaurant’s 1600s-themed English interior.

Antiques like wrought-iron chandeliers, shields, flags and brass plates were shipped halfway across the globe to create an authentic English haven within the confines of Spokane. It was said to have given the impression of being somewhere between a gentlemen’s club and a neighborhood pub.

Little has changed.

Since opening, the restaurant has made national headlines, but not necessarily for its food.

In June 1991, two girls from North Central High School walked into Clinkerdagger. They were dressed up and ready for their senior prom, a night they’d never forget – just not quite for the reasons they’d anticipated.

They were supposed to meet their dates for an 8:15 dinner, except there was one small problem: The dates never came.

Instead, the stood-up 18-year-old pair sat at their table flustered, mortified and unsure of how to escape the situation with their dignity intact.

That was when their saving grace, Beth Sayers, restaurant manager at the time, stepped in to help.

She offered up two of her waiters to the girls as impromptu dates and paid for hors d’oeuvres, pictures and whatever else they needed.

After the story broke, everyone wanted to come to Clinkerdagger and meet the waiters who saved prom. The story appeared on “Good Morning America,” and the front pages of the Chicago Tribune and other publications.

Over the past five decades, Clinkerdagger’s clientele has remained the same. It has always been the place for “anything from prom to anniversaries to birthdays,” according to general manager Debi Moon, who has worked at the restaurant for 30 years.

“Their consistency is what regulars love,” Moon said.

Juanita Johnson recently celebrated her 98th birthday with dinner at Clinkerdagger, a tradition she started 20 years ago.

“They’ve all been so special,” Johnson said.

One of her favorite things about Clinkerdagger, in addition to the pea salad, of course, is “just the fact that it’s still here. So many of the places have disappeared, so it’s just nice to be able to still come back to it.”

The team treasures customers’ family traditions. For example, they “have one table called Sally’s table, and Sally has brought her family here for Christmas every year.”

Moon said that although Sally died, but “her family still comes in and carries on her tradition.”

Clinkerdagger has a special place in the heart of longtime customer Christine Bargman.

“For 30 years, we would come here for lunch during the holidays, just because it’s so pretty and festive,” Bargman said.

“The French onion soup has been there forever. I was worried it had changed because we haven’t been here for so long, and it was just the same,” Bargman said.

Since opening, staff have been trained to “read (their) guests and adapt service to each table,” whether that be businesspeople, families or parties.

Notable menu items are, and have always been, prime rib; fresh, rotating fish; pea salad; chicken Dijon; and crème brûlée, Moon noted.

“Slow-roasted prime rib (has) been our No. 1-selling item for 50 years,” she said.

Chefs aren’t focused on being “innovative;” rather, they “want to be thought of as classic (and) traditional.”

While the restaurant prides itself on recipes and an atmosphere that hasn’t, and won’t, change, servers’ uniforms have been refreshed since opening. In addition to the women’s “wench” outfits, “the boys wore corduroy knickers and vests, so it had more of that feel of an English restaurant,” Moon said.

50 years later, these “English” elements are gone. But Moon said the mission of Clinkerdagger remains “to exceed every guest’s expectations.”