What do medieval rulers, Metallica guitar solos, 2025 executive orders, Twilight and linear optimization all have in common?
They've all been featured as categories for Tuesday night trivia at RICO'S PUBLIC HOUSE, this year's winner for best trivia night on the Palouse.
Rico's has been hosting trivia for 18 years — owner Tawny Szumlas can easily keep track because it started just two weeks after she gave birth to her oldest son. A church group ran trivia at first, then some grad students, and now it's organized by a handful of hilarious, encyclopedic women.
The rounds start at 7 pm, but it's the kind of game night where you've gotta show up at least 30 minutes early to secure a spot — there are usually 45 to 50 people competing every week. Good thing it lines up with $2-off fish tacos and $5 margaritas, both of which are Tuesday specials. Now's your chance to figure out just how well tequila helps you guess answers to "video game plots explained poorly."
Proceeds from the night support various local charities, and winners get gift cards to downtown Pullman businesses.
"Everything about our trivia is local," Szumlas says. "The whole idea is that we're really proud to be a part of this community."
Two Pullman restaurants were in the running for best restaurant on the Palouse, but the grand title was snatched by THE HARVESTER in Spangle, a staple off Interstate 195 just south of Spokane that's both well-known and well-loved for its hearty breakfasts — it's got plenty of Best Of wins to prove it.
But Pullman can boast having not just the first, not just the first and second, but the first, second and third place winners for this year's best coffee shops on the Palouse. KNEAD CAFE & PATISSERIE opened last August and snared the top trophy in its first year of operation, thanks to specialty coffee from Kamiak Coffee Company in Moscow, Idaho, and artisan baked goods by Regina Konigsberg, founder of Regina's Baked Goods.
Konigsberg is a professionally trained pastry chef who moved to Moscow from New York in 2015. Her towering Danishes are stuffed with seasonal flavors like cookie butter cream cheese and strawberry jam, lemon curd, or almond cream and cherry compote. Knead Cafe also always stocks its case with her hypnotizing croissants and cinnamon rolls, which pair perfectly with Kamiak's handcrafted, small-batch roasts.
Grant Schoenlein and Kyle O'Malley founded Kamiak Coffee Company in 2018. They focused on roasting coffee beans on demand and selling them straight to consumers, but always had a coffee shop in the back of their mind. They wanted only the best baked goods for their selective coffees, so when they connected with Konigsberg, it was a match made in heaven. Now, the cafe north of Washington State University's main campus is the perfect spot for plenty of meet-cutes.
If the only thing missing for your cute coffee date is a cute coffee outfit, look no further than MICHELLE'S CLOSET, voted best boutique on the Palouse. The trendy consignment store opened a new location in February on the WSU campus, in addition to its location downtown.
The upscale boutique has formal gowns, spring fling dresses, concert crop tops and anything else a flirty, thriving 20-something might need on a budget.
"We're 100% in love with preloved," says Michelle Kelly, who first opened Michelle's Closet with her husband, Michael, in 2019.
Kelly is a major in the Army and originally moved to Pullman to teach at WSU's ROTC program, though she's switched to full-time boutique owner now. Recent construction in the college town has been tougher on downtown businesses than COVID was, Kelly says, but her boutique has been a huge part of bringing people back. In January, Michelle's Closet hosted the first ever "Pullman Bachelor," where downtown businesses sponsored WSU football player Joe Taylor's four progressive dates around Pullman. On Valentine's Day, he showed up to Rico's Public House on Valentine's Day with his chosen bachelorette.
"I had someone drive up from Lewiston to visit my shop because of the Bachelor," Kelly says.
Should Joe's or anyone else's date end up being the one, the Palouse has plenty of picturesque wedding venues when it comes time to tie the knot. The PALOUSE KNOT BARN stole the hearts of this year's voters, and it's easy to see why. The 1919 barn, with its giant arched roof and iconic little silo is one of the most photographed barns in the region — and that's saying something for the "Tuscany of America."
BEST RESTAURANT
1st PLACE: The Harvester, Spangle
2nd PLACE: The Black Cypress, Pullman
3rd PLACE: South Fork Public House, Pullman
BEST TRIVIA NIGHT
1st PLACE: Rico's Public House, Pullman
2nd PLACE: The Cellar, Colfax
BEST COFFEE SHOP
1st PLACE: Knead Cafe & Patisserie, Pullman
2nd PLACE: Zoe Coffee & Kitchen, Pullman
3rd PLACE: Roost Coffee, Pullman
BEST BOUTIQUE
1st PLACE: Michelle's Closet, Pullman
2nd PLACE: Hurd Mercantile, Rockford
3rd PLACE: Home: Lifestyle, Gifts, Decor; Spangle
BEST WEDDING VENUE
1st PLACE: Palouse Knot Barn, Colfax
2nd PLACE: Red Barn Farms, Colton
3rd PLACE: Palouse Ridge Events, Spangle
