New faces reviving an old favorite

COCOLALLA — The stories didn’t trickle in as much as rolled through the doors like a torrent.

When Bob Short began working on The View restaurant along Highway 95 that peers over Lake Cocolalla like a well-stocked crow’s nest, motorists stopped in regularly with stories of the former eatery’s history.

 “Every day someone would stop in and say how they loved this restaurant, how they used to come here as kids,” Short said. “People would tell us what their favorite thing on the menu was.”

Biscuits and gravy was usually on top, followed by milk shakes and homemade French fries, he said.

Before he purchased the property two years ago, Short often stopped at the cafe on travels to Sandpoint and enjoyed the fries.

“Some of them were 10-inches long,” he said.

The parking lot had cars with local and out-of-area license plates and usually a few tractor-trailers.

When the place closed, he missed pulling in to stretch his legs and grab a bite to eat before getting back on the road, and one day noticed the “For lease” sign.

He made some telephone calls, simple inquiries, really.

He had no intention of buying.

The calls, however, led to his purchase of the establishment with plans on opening it again for reasons that had less to do with business than sentiment.

“I’d like to turn this back into what it was, for the people,” he said. “It was not a business reason, but maybe too much an emotional one.”

The View, completely refurbished with a bar and a new water system will open April 21 with a breakfast and lunch menu, and will follow up before summer with expanded dinner selections.

“We want to get our feet wet first,” Short said.

The philosophy at The View has not changed, he said, it will continue to serve home-made food.

“I guess you would call it comfort food,” restaurant manager Dana Collings said.

 Milk shakes will not be on the menu immediately, he said, but the biscuits and gravy will be included.

They are the same biscuits and gravy patrons have come to love, Short said.

“We have the recipe for the biscuits and gravy,” he said. “It will taste just like it did 50 years ago.”

Called The View Coffee Bar back then, the cafe opened more than a half century ago as a place where patrons came in to stand, either at the bar or the open floor, enjoy drinks, a warm bite and a game of pool.

“Initially there were no tables and chairs, there was no seating,” he said.

That didn’t change until 1963 when patrons could take a load off and the name changed to View Cafe, he said.

Ownership changed several times and was the business was purchased by Alice Eich in 1984. She ran the cafe until her death in 2004. Her husband Glen operated the business until the well — hence the new water system —  went dry in 2008, Short said.

He gutted the place after purchasing the property.

“All that was left were the cinder block walls,” he said.

He replaced the floor, sheeting, added bench seats, a bar and a new kitchen.

To let passers-by know he means business, Short ringed the parking lots with a vintage, orange house boat on the north side and a sailboat on the south of the parking lot.

The boats got people talking about the restaurant again. The boats will be gone by the time the establishment opens.

Short is aware that the boats were not required to get passers-by and neighbors talking about the place. They had never really quit.

When it reopens next month, the name will be the same, and so will the food.

“We’re part of this history,” he said.