Fine Dining in Spokane

Commellini's is located on a Historical 100 acre site and has been serving fine Italian food for almost 70 years. The restaurant tradition of family dining includes some very prominent guest from the past, some well known names such as Dwight D. Eisenhower, Joe DiMaggio, Marilyn Monroe, Evil Knievel, John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, Albert Rossellini, Larry Czonka, Ed Asner, Al Capone, Buggsie Segal, Machine Gun Kelley and Many other Mafia members of the past.

It was a well known gangster hang-out back in the day! Members of the Chicago Mafia hid in the guest houses, earning its reputation as a speak-easy, with many underground tunnels that were used for bootlegging during the prohibition period. The tunnels still run under the restaurant and out into the woods! Oh the stories they could tell!

Commellini's has an interesting and colorful history. Albert Commellini cam to the U.S. from Italy's Tusani Province in 1907 to run an Italian Import Co. located in downtown Spokane as a combination grocer and restaurant and the import business until 1942.

Leta Commellini and her brother Albert also operated this location as a roadhouse restaurant from 1941 - 1978, a favorite Italian restaurant known for it's chicken cacciatore, It was frequently the setting for group meetings and dinners, wedding rehearsal dinners etc... Neither Leta nor Albert ever married, but both lived on the estate, which became known as Commellini's Junction because both Commellini's lived there.

Commellini's is located in what was known in the early days as Spring Creek Poultry Farm. The buildings across the creek were used for breeding and raising chickens. Up to a thousand chickens a day were slaughtered and sold to markets or were used at the restaurant. The grain used for making moonshine was recycled and the mash was used as chicken feed. That eliminated any evidence of the moon shine operation.

Albert held the position of County Commissioner, County Sheriff, and many others in the community. It was also said that he was arrested 3 times in 1 day! At one time Albert opened and operated the ambassador, a nigh club near the present day K-Mart store on east Sprague. The night club opened in 1936 and saw it's end only a few days later, when it burned to the ground.

Albert died in 1979 while working on his car. The car fell off the jack he was using and killed him. Leta kept their legacy alive though the fabulous old world recipes used today just as they were when Leta did all of the cooking herself. Leta passed away in the early 1980's. We also remember the gangsters of yesterday through our yearly "Gangster" costume night. Among the other interesting details at the estate are the stone lions on the grounds. The lions are from the old marble at the Old Nation Bank building that was demolished in 1958. The light poles are given to Albert by the city of Spokane. Francisco's at Commellini's was started by Frank (Francis) Burger and Tammy Paulino in 2007 and the story continues....