The Lux Rooms

[Dogtownkid]

A's motel

I liked the sign that was out front for a long time--"Clean rooms; dirty movies."

[ZagNative]

So, dogtown, you not admitting to ever having seen the inside of the Red Lion Tavern? You aren't one of those pillars of propriety in the community, whether then or now, who was known to bend an elbow for a brewski at the bar on Main and Division?

[Dogtownkid]

Not did I bend the occasional elbow at the Red Lion, but I vaguely remember having been in Sam's Pit back in my salad days. Very vaguely. I may be hallucinating, though.

Speaking of Sam's Pit, has anyone read Jess Walter's Citizen Vince? Some of it takes place in Sam's Pit in the 70's. It's a really good read. Walter understands Spokane and does a good job of using it as a setting for the book. I believe he won a national book award of some kind for the book.

[ZagNative]

Obviously, before this thread is through, ZagNative will have written off any chances of running for public office, as she continues to spill the beans about her connections to Spokane's seedy underbelly from the past.

Angelo, BTW, speaks the absolute truth. No doubt about it. Same town that I knew at the time.

The Rainow: My only experience with the place was on my birthday, when a group of us decided to celebrate by a stop there. It was pretty much a biker bar by that time. I thought it was a hysterical and campy experience on my once-only visit, especially when Omar the Red Lion bartender, who was in our party, took to the stage for a hilarious impromptu but modest strip, until later, I described the experience to a woman who was a teacher at Grant. Her face clouded and she was not amused, as she replied disapprovingly, "Those girls are the mothers of some of my students ..." she talked about how difficult their lives were ... I felt an inch tall ... Campy? Funny? Not so much any more ...

Stroebel's: Angelo will likely remember this place, if my hunch is correct. It was an elegant, tiny restaurant/bar across the alley behind the ONB building (now US Bank) where I worked at the time. Absolutely wonderful menu for lunch and dinner, with a tiny, cozy bar in the back, with a wall to wall sofa that ran the lengths of the two walls across to and adjoining the bar, no tables, a must-stop Friday nights after work for some downtown lawyers. A very high-class meat market. there was some kind of a place upstairs ... dancing, music, I don't know what all. Never went up there. I think I thought it was dangerous.

I remember being there for lunch one day when one of my co-workers from our law firm in the ONB building spotted a guy from Idaho our law firm had been unable to get service of process on for an important lawsuit, and she leaped up from our table and ran to the office to get the complaint and returned to our table with a big grin on her face after duly serving Mr. Idaho guy, who should have had lunch anywhere but Stroebels, where lawyers and their staff enjoyed frequent spendy lunches.

Flaherty's, Albertini's, Etc. I frequented all these places for lunch and stopped by a handful of times for after-work drinks with friends, but there was something uncomfortable about them, something wrong ... It was almost certainly the drug culture, which I wasn't part of .... And unlike the Red Lion, which really wasn't a meat market, these places were.

[Angelo Roncalli]

Stroebel's: Angelo will likely remember this place, if my hunch is correct. It was an elegant, tiny restaurant/bar across the alley behind the ONB building (now US Bank) where I worked at the time. Absolutely wonderful menu for lunch and dinner, with a tiny, cozy bar in the back, with a wall to wall sofa that ran the lengths of the two walls across to and adjoining the bar, no tables, a must-stop Friday nights after work for some downtown lawyers. A very high-class meat market. there was some kind of a place upstairs ... dancing, music, I don't know what all. Never went up there. I think I thought it was dangerous.

Stroebel's...indeed I remember. The site of yours truly's 21st birthday evening, what I can remember of it. Note: some of us think of it as being across the street from First National Bank rather than behind ONB. The locus in quo of perhaps the most expensive date of my life.

When I was a fledgling associate, one of the partners at the firm at which I worked told me: "unless you're working on something incredibly important, there's no reason to stay in the office past 3 on Friday afternoon." His place of choice was Shenanigan's. Not a bad spot.

Anyone remember "The Tin Ear"? Spent some great Friday and Saturday nights there in the early '80's. Jim Baker, Jr., led the house band, "Dee and the Dee-Lites." The Tin Ear was the first place I had a muffaletta sandwich. Marty Maaran, who was a GU law student at the time, often sang Al Jolson era songs with the band. "When I'm Paddlin' Madeline home..."

[ZagNative]

Anyone remember "The Tin Ear"? Spent some great Friday and Saturday nights there in the early '80's. Jim Baker, Jr., led the house band, "Dee and the Dee-Lites." The Tin Ear was the first place I had a muffaletta sandwich. Marty Maaran, who was a GU law student at the time, often sang Al Jolson era songs with the band. "When I'm Paddlin' Madeline home..."

You know, I remember knowing of the Tin Ear, but I didn't ever go there, which sounds now like a steenkin' shame. Sounds wonderful ...

And while we're at it ...

The Regis. Another great eating establishment, north behind The Onion and run by Larry Brown. I think Pat Jeppson was responsible for the decor of both establishments.

Last time I visited there, it was The Italian Kitchen. I should have checked to see if the bar was wonderful as ever, cozy, tiny, wonderful mahogany. It was run by Marty in those days, now the owner of Luigi's on Main (at least Marty owned Luigi's the last time I checked.)

The Regis was the site of the annual Christmas lunch of "our corner," at the law firm where I worked at the time, meaning the little clacque of us who worked in close proximity. We would arrive at noon and placed our food orders at 3:00. A very good time was had by all, up until the year folks got wise about potential liability issues involved at allowing (encouraging) employees to get swacked at the firm's expense and loaded up and set loose on the road to negotiate the drive home.

[hondo46]

Reno

"Reno might have visited the Lux Rooms. . .was it located at the top of a fairly long flight of stairs ?"
Not to be confused with the Luxette Rooms which were at the top of a steep dimly lit stairway. Hondo was not there as a customer but rather on a historical tour of downtown Wallace. Very interesting history to that part of Idaho which produced more than a few great Gonzaga alums and SJs

[MedZag]

The Regis. Another great eating establishment, north behind The Onion and run by Larry Brown. I think Pat Jeppson was responsible for the decor of both establishments.

Last time I visited there, it was The Italian Kitchen. I should have checked to see if the bar was wonderful as ever, cozy, tiny, wonderful mahogany. It was run by Marty in those days, now the owner of Luigi's on Main (at least Marty owned Luigi's the last time I checked.)

The bar is still wonderfully intact, separated by a wall from the rest of the restaurant. A great venue with underrated italian, especially being two blocks from Luigi's. MedZag may or may not have taken several successful dates there during his time at GU. Not to mention a fake bachelor party, staged when we were 19, where we may or may not have been served endless wine unquestioned due to our golden alibi.

[lawprof99]

Lux

Just picked up on this. Couple fo Wallace guys (like the Butte Rats) have great stories. We have Wallace stories. One of them, maybe, might even have involved (been) a GU trustee. Other (maybe) might have been a GU TAX law prof. Great place to grow up. Delores paid for the football uniforms, ran adds in the high school football programs, was a wonderful lady. Might be some truth in the rest of the stories. Particulary the one about the guy that came up there being Pretty tall. I defended one of the madams in a tax case. Got a tax deduction for depreciation on the beds.

[RenoZag]

"Reno might have visited the Lux Rooms. . .was it located at the top of a fairly long flight of stairs ?"
Not to be confused with the Luxette Rooms which were at the top of a steep dimly lit stairway. Hondo was not there as a customer but rather on a historical tour of downtown Wallace. Very interesting history to that part of Idaho which produced more than a few great Gonzaga alums and SJs

Hondo's description seems dead-on. . .1978 was a long time ago. . .and the memory bank has more details of what happened beyond the threshold versus the architectural details. . .

[lawprof99]

Lux

Hondo is correct. However, Luxette used to be the Jade. Friendly takeover by Delores in the 70's. There were, at one time, five. Jade, Arment, U and I, Oasis and Lux. Oasis is still there as a museum. "Ginger" was the madam. Not anymore.

[Samurai]

Just a side Note: I now have the sign from the old Sam's Bar B Que. My name is Sam and I throw a Bar B Que every year and invite my co-workers and they bought me the sign from Sam's Pit. I never heard the stories untill I owned the sign.

[lawprof99]

lux rooms

Kind of sad that this threat petered out. As it were.

[Birddog]

Kind of sad that this threat (sic) petered out. As it were.

Perhaps a trip to Viagra Falls could get it up again.

[Angelo Roncalli]

I am revisiting this thread after just finishing reading Timothy's Egan's "Breaking Blue," a true crime story about police corruption in Spokane in the 1930's and the solving of a murder that had occurred in Newport during the Depression. Egan's book was published in the early 90's; I wish I would have read it earlier. Great story. Reads like fiction. One of the primary locales in the story is a 24 hour diner called "Mother's Kitchen," a venue of vice much like Al Morse's or Sam's Barbecue Pit. GU plays a role in the story and some of the names in the book will familiar to Spokanites.

Which brings me to a business of dubious character that I am surprised wasn't mentioned when this thread first started: "The Pine Shed."