Restaurants in Opportunity

El Mercado Del Pueblo encompasses a Mexican market, deli, bakery, and sit-down restaurant. One need not search for authenticity here, because it's everywhere. Overhanging Mexican flags run the length of the full-service market, its shelves rife with imported spices, sweets, and one of the largest dried-pepper selections in town. After scoping out the freshly made tres-leches cakes at the panaderia, guests can explore Chef Hortencia's Cuernavaca roots by sampling the eatery's authentic soups, chiles rellenos, or traditional street tacos. If time is short, they can carry out a sweet or savory tamale to surprise a friend, or a pound of fresh salsa to bribe a crooked chip baron.

Taxidermy buffalo and deer heads oversee GW Hunters Steakhouse's rustic wood-paneled dining room, where tables strain beneath the load of hefty steaks, seafood, and pasta. In addition to the traditional hearty steak-house fare, the chefs at the family-owned establishment dish out a wide range of unusual meats, including elk, buffalo, and alligator—each of which are personally wrestled into submission by the head chef, Rex Shank. Every Sunday, a country breakfast buffet spans the restaurant's event hall with a smorgasbord of skillets and steaks. The steak house also opens its elegant, 50-year-old banquet facility for private events, where parties of up to 50 folks can feast amid gold-stained floors, golden walls, and a sophisticated absence of chimpanzee waiters.

According to a June 2012 profile in The Pacific Northwest Inlander, Donna Byrd spent months simmering sauces over her kitchen stove and recruiting family members and friends for taste tests. After those months of experimentation, clear winners emerged and those champion recipes hold a place of honor in the Byrds' restaurant, Noodle Works. Guests order their vegetables, meats, and tofu stir-fried in a teriyaki sauce tinged with pineapple or a sesame and ginger-laced mustard sauce. Then, they watch chefs place the sizzling feast onto a bed of rice or yakisoba noodles to create a dinner in a bowl or onto a bed of rose petals to create a romantic dinner in a bowl. Visitors can pair noodle bowls with domestic and imported beers while taking in a sports game on television screens mounted on the walls.

After making countless lasagnas for their seven children over the years, Lasagna's On Ya owners Dan and Jennifer Shorts decided to bring their homemade specialty dish to the public. Each day, they prepare several types of lasagna--from the classic lasagna with tomato sauce to the mushroom melt with alfredo sauce--and design you-build-it varieties for customers from scratch, tailoring lasagna to be lactose- or gluten-free upon request. The take-and-bake meals pair with salads, artisan breads, and rich desserts that leave a sweeter taste in your mouth than eating Shirley Temple postage stamps.

Chicken-N-More founder Bob Hemphill moved to Spokane, he brought the flavors of his native Texas with him. Here, white and dark-meat fried chicken perfectly compliment sides such as hush puppies and gumbo, while rolls sidle up to orders of ribs. Sandwiches range from barbecued brisket and pulled pork to farm-raised Alabama catfish, and guests can finish their meal with a peach cobbler or a sweet-potato pie. Chicken-N-More also crafts its own famous sweet-tart Old South Barbeque sauce sauce, sold by the pint.

Inside, you’ll find the walls plastered with old pictures, license plates from across the country, and sports jerseys given to the restaurant by local teams. In an interview with The Inlander, Bob said that players from the Gonzaga and Eastern Washington basketball teams eat at Chicken-N-More all the time.

Laguna Cafe's owners, Dan and Debbie, are avid travelers—and were inspired to create a menu that reflected the cuisine in their travels across the country. At the restaurant, patrons will find a large selection of local craft brews and wines, met with delectable entrees such as veal and beef meatloaf, burgers topped with cheese, bacon, and barbecue sauce, and overflowing cobb salads. While dining, they'll also be met with outdoor seating that overlooks a fountain, and live music weekly.