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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Practice your Latin at Agave Latin Bistro

Dan Webster

I need to thank Spokane's Fire Artisan Pizza for helping me find a decent meal on Saturday evening. My brother and I had tickets for the Night of Edgar Allan Poe that was being held at the Bing Crosby Theater at 7:30, so we stopped by the nearby pizza place at 6, hoping to get a table.

Fat chance. The place is small enough as it is. But it looked as if someone was holding a family celebration, which was enough to fill 20-some seats. So we were told that the wait for a table — for two — would be "about 20 minutes."

Uh-uh. As I've written in the past: I live in Spokane, which means that I don't have to wait for a table. So we turned around, walked down the street and immediately scored a table at Agave Latin Bistro. Which turned out to be a good decision.

I've never understood why this location has such a hard time holding onto a restaurant. I've lost track of the places that have opened and closed there since the days it was the old diner (and its attendant bar, the Apache Room). And while people slowly drifted in as we perused the menu, the atmosphere wasn't exactly jumping while we ate.

And ate well we did. After chicken empanada appetizers, we both had Agave salads with grilled shrimp (big enough to be entrees by themselves) and then shared an order of carne asada tacos (see the above photo). The food came quickly, the service was prompt and friendly and if we'd wanted, we could have had any number of drinks to wash things down with.

The people sitting at the tequila bar sure seemed to be enjoying themselves.

So, nothing against Fire Artisan Pizza. I've eaten there, and I love the food you serve. But thanks for giving me the opportunity to try what to me is someplace new.