(SpoCOOL) A Spokane Blog

Last week we posted to Twitter: "A list of reasons to live in Spokane doesn't exist on Google. What are your reasons to live in Spokane? We want suggestions for a post." Seriously, type "Reasons to live in San Francisco" into Bing, and you'll be caught in a wave of results. Even Coeur d'Alene comes up with relevant hits. Spokane? Our tweet, some generic job postings, and reasons not to. Not cool.

Many responded to our Twitter request, and you can see a list of reasons to live here below. 

Now we want to take this to the next level: Our challenge to you is to create a list of reasons to live in Spokane, then post it to your blog. Don't have a blog? E-mail team@spocool.com and we will post it here on your behalf. Let's get the content up by the time spring comes and let people know why Spokane is okay! We will post our own lists on SpoCOOL.

If you feel compelled to make a difference and take our challenge, please let us know where you posted your list. 

Now, the tweets:

Keaton Violet: the people.

Bart Mihailovich: It's a stupid motto but it's true- Spokane is near SO MUCH nature! + the airport, ease of travel in and out, proximity to Seattle, Portland and Montana and we get all four seasons here (sometimes)

Daniel Walters: Cost o' livin'.

Caleb Ingersoll: It has amazing potential. I love cities that I feel I can actually make a difference in.

Barry Geraghty: In SF right now. Makes me long for Spokane's lack of traffic/relatively sane drivers.

FakeSpokanePlow: We can plow the entire city in less than a week!

Ryan Pitts: There's not a restaurant in town that won't serve you seared ahi.

Laura: Exactly how I feel. RT @calebingersoll: @SpoCOOL It has amazing potential.I love cities that I feel I can actually make a difference in

Spokane Books Blog: It's a "city" of 200k with a lit festival, an int'ly renowned run, its own symphony & jazz orch, & an int'l film festival.

FakeSpokanePlow: Some of our local TV stations use spellcheck.

Erick: climate, geography, lack of massive population, proximity to all things outdoors, safe...

Kennet Bertelsen: Summer sunshine w/o the humidity, cheap golf, The Swamp, little traffic, affordable houses, 17 wineries, oh and my job is here

Joe Petrilli: incredible access to recreation, small town pace with big town culture, affordable, centrally located in NW, seasons, neighborhood commercial districts, geography, it's entrepreneurial, the spokane river,

Jared Frank: How 'bout championship 2nd-tier sports programs, Gonzaga basketball, best pot holes in the West?

David Blaine: You don't have to drive somewhere to go for a bike ride. #liveinspokane

Kipp Ashford: One word: Microbrews.

Jamie Lynn Morgan: RT @kickashford: @SpoCOOL One word: Microbrews.

Cameron Gorma: this is so rad, I was just saying yesterday that Spokane needed something similar to iliveinomaha.com...

Samara Hanks: We have a great University - Gonzaga! #gozags

Becky: politically diverse pple to argue with, work out while drinking events (FBC & Running Irish), Asian health spas! was kind of kidding about Asian Health Spas. I do love how we are "conservative" w/a bit of sex (like People's Park).

Mike Tigas: Missed this yesterday. Why Spokane? Best/worst city name portmanteaus. (You would know.) #spokanistan #spokompton #spokanversation

There are certain things we don't expect to find in Spokane. Take pizza, for example. We don't expect to find pies the quality of Di Fara in Brooklyn or Tropic in Spain here. That's not to say we don't love us some South Perry, Flying Goat or Ferrante, as we most certainly do, but top of the class is something we find elsewhere.

Yet, sometimes we find a bright spot, one that truly surprises. Veraci is clearly the best pizza in Spokane, and pretty dang close to being mentioned in the same breath as some of our favorite spots.

This is the a "branch" (in lack of a better word, seeing that it's mobile) of a Seattle pizzeria which we've tried before, and we're going to say the local alternative is the better one. It could be something as simple as us getting the slices fresh out of the oven on a blustering day -- in Seattle they were kinda just sitting around in their brick and mortar location -- we don't know. But this is damn good pizza, and well deserved of our readers' Best Of... accolade.

The pizzas are made in wood fired ovens, the heat reaching around 1000 degrees. Not too surprisingly we're talking thin crust here, with just a bit of char to it and a nice bite. The toppings -- cheese and whatever else -- isn't piled on, but nicely covers the pie. This is not the pizza for you if you like it to be a cheese-fest where the crust only serves to hold the toppings. This is a harmony of crust, cheese and extremely fresh tasting toppings, playing together like a symphony. Not the free symphonies in the park; the one you suit up for.

Veraci Spokane is a mobile-only operation, and can currently be found at South Perry Farmers' Market, as well as Liberty Lake starting in May. They also travel to other spots, and having their pizza with a beer at the Hop Shop comes recommended.

In terms of pizza in Spokane, it doesn't get better than Veraci. Track them down unless you completely suck.

It had been a little while since we last visited El Mercado del Pueblo, so when we stopped by the other day we were kind of caught by surprise. The deli was there, as was the bakery, and that that was about it. The stocked shelves were gone, with just some items pushed up against the walls.

Now, luckily, the main reason for this was an event happening on Saturday -- more about that in a bit -- but it's obvious that even though the floor was cleared to make space for people, El Mercado isn't quite what it used to be. And that makes us a bit sad, because we firmly believed it could have been a contender. It still could be, but it's obvious that people aren't beating down the doors of this little market and deli. 

They should. You should. We should, as, and we've mentioned it before, it's a great market and the deli/bakery holds a high standard. Anyone who wants Spokane to become vibrant should understand that small international markets are integral parts of interesting cities. Here I could launch into a long rant, but let's just say we'll personally come slap you if you don't start frequenting spots like Cassano, International Food Store and, of course, El Mercado.

Tomorrow there are quite a few things going down at the shop, all which are listed on their Facebook page. Salsa classes, mariachi bands, cooking classes... Looks to be a happening day, and a good excuse to visit them if you haven't already. Try their tortas too, they're great.

There are many seemingly minor things that bug me. Menus, for example. I don't consider them minor and you shouldn't either. Think about it -- when you go to a restaurant the menu is your guide to what you will be investing your hard earned money in. Ordering from a restaurant is more than a choice of food, it's a business decision.

This might be why so many menus feel like marketing blurbs as opposed to accurate, simple descriptions of what you potentially may be eating. You lured us in already, no need to try to sell us again, unless you really want us to get the most expensive thing on the menu. That, however, is upselling, and not something you should strive for unless you sell used Gremlins on Sprague.

Here are three ultra basic tips we at Team SpoCOOL feel restaurants should take to heart:

Drop adjectives and poetry: Surely you've seen this. "A tender, gingerly seared smithereen of Kobe beef, delicately dressed by chanting Tibetan monks in a sauce béarnaise, prepared using the bain marie method as scribed in Auguste Escoffier's last will and testament." Just title it "Kobe beef in béarnaise sauce" and let the customer sing poetically if they enjoy the food. We could also get in a long discussion about the wisdom of calling it "Kobe," but let's save that for some other day.

Speak English: Not in the political sense of Idaho being afraid of Spanish, but there are frankly so many crazy food expressions out there that few understand all of them. "Béarnaise"? It's fine to keep that on the menu as an item title, but many don't know what it is and would like a short definition. It doesn't take much to describe it as a sauce consisting of egg yolks, butter, and herbs (or whatever variation you do) in a nice readable way. Just don't do it in a haiku form.

Symbols and abbreviations: Symbols make sense, what with how certain items are "heart healthy" or "gluten free" or "vegan" or "vegetarian" or whatever you have. Using symbols save space, and is unobtrusive for those of us who don't really care about any of those. Do use symbols that make sense however. A ♥ (that's a heart symbol if your browser doesn't support it) indicates something is heart healthy. "^" does not. "GF" is a common abbreviation for "gluten free;" "∂" is not.