New cafe owners aim for family dining

OTHELLO — Since taking over his new restaurant, owner Mike Nouri has tried to bring smiles to the faces of his customers.

"It's amazing how you can go up to a stranger and say hello, and how it brightens them up," he said. "I've gone to restaurants and you never see a manager or anybody come up, unless there is an issue. Here, we're there."

Nouri and his wife of five years, Sandie, took over operation of the Potholes Sports Cafe Jan. 27, after moving into the area from Seattle.

Mike Nouri said the fire pit which now sits outside the cafe was in his house. He and Sandie love to cook on their days off, and friends they entertained suggested they open their own restaurant.

"Buying a restaurant in Seattle is well over half a million to get the decent, cleanest we could get," Nouri said.

So he quit his job as a General Motors general manager.

"My wife said, 'What are you going to do?'" he said. "I said, 'I don't know. What-ever's meant to be, is meant to be.'"

Shortly after, the couple was speaking to the former owners of the restaurant about making the purchase. The previous owners had operated the restaurant since 1989, Nouri said, and the business closed for two weeks while the Nouris took over.

They had been through the area before, several times a year, as some friends own a nearby business and called to let them know the restaurant was available.

For Nouri, taking over the restaurant has been a lot of hard work, with remodeling, planning and bringing in the fire pit and a water pond, plus bringing in pool and an 80-inch television screen.

"It's becoming a pretty good success," he said.

Nouri points to menu items he finds are catching on in popularity, like his marinated hamburgers and chicken and steak kebabs, which are drawing people from all over the Columbia Basin.

"Every day I see some new faces," he added.

The couple plans to offer catering throughout the county as well, Nouri said. He's building a "dream team" of employees, he said, for the eventual expansion of the Potholes Golf Resort from nine holes to 18.

"When I used to go to restaurants, I didn't get very good service," he said. "I used to spend maybe $20, $24 for a steak. I can do better than that. I wanted to open a restaurant to bring a smile to people's faces. Good service, good food. I'm always proud of what I make. So when people compliment it, it's a huge compliment to me."

The Potholes Sports Cafe is located at 7037 Highway 262 on the Potholes Golf Course.