Moscow’s newest diner, The Varsity, is hard to miss — a shiny, silver building on the corner of Jackson and Third Street.
When the diner opens, it will have a semi-classic diner atmosphere and feature comfort foods on its menu with meatloaf, chicken fried steak, all-day breakfast and hand-spun milkshakes.
The project has been ongoing for a year and a half, and with the bad weather, the opening date has been delayed, said Nancy Swanger, co-owner and Associate Dean and Director of the School of Hospitality and Business Management at Washington State University.
Swanger said they will hold off on jamming the parking lot until the weather improves, she said she hopes The Varsity will be able to open within the next month or so. She said the restaurant is smaller on the inside than it appears, only seating 94 people, but she hopes that will add to the intimate and friendly atmosphere.
Swanger said she owns the diner with her husband Larry Swanger.
“It’s my husband’s baby,” Swanger said. “Larry is the mastermind behind all of our restaurant operations.”
Along with The Varsity, the Swangers own Gambino’s and Subway located on the Troy Highway.
Swanger said they both started in the restaurant owning business when they first opened a Subway in 1988.
Owning restaurants for many years has become an important part of their lives, Swanger said.
“It’s part of who we are and we want to extend that to others,” Swanger said.
Swanger said they decided to open a diner because it was something her husband had always wanted to do. When the corner lot on Jackson and Third Street opened up, Swanger said her husband was thrilled to seize the opportunity.
“It’s probably been inside Larry’s head for about 10 to 15 years,” she said.
The Swangers work closely with the res- taurant managers and employees to keep up with daily business. In a college town, many of their employees are students, she said.
“It’s rewarding to see them graduate and come back to visit, or send wedding invites or baby announcements,” Swanger said. “When you’re in that kind of a busi- ness, you’re a part of a lot of lives and that’s a really great thing.”
Swanger said she and her family have lived on the Palouse for over 40 years. She said they have been very active in their com- munity and through their restaurants.
“It’s being in that fabric of your commu- nity and knowing you contribute and that
you feel good about what you do,” she said. “We are proud of our restaurants.”
While owning restaurants has been a good business to put their kids through college, she said it can also be challenging.
“Food is a tough place to be, it’s a very labor intensive business and you’re only as good as your weakest employee,” she said. “You can be quite vulnerable if food is mis- handled or a service experience is bad.”
Swanger said that owning restaurants is difficult sometimes because she and her husband cannot always be present and so rely heavily on their employees. Despite the challenges, Swanger said they have high hopes for their new diner.
“I hope it’s a place where people can come together and meet their friends and have a great time and a great meal,” she said.
Kara Billington can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @K_Billington3