If you've been to Zola, you probably have your favorite nook. The Tilt-a-Whirl booth where you had your first date. A front-row seat up close and personal with the band. A bar stool and some hot gossip with Sheldon Moore, your favorite bartender-turned-best-friend.
In early December last year, the string lights at Zola were about to go out. Staff whispered to regulars that it was their last shift. Social media posts claimed the bar was permanently closed.
After 15 years on West Main Avenue, maybe Zola just wasn't what it used to be. Maybe downtown nightlife in Spokane was fading. When budgets are tight, "going out is not a priority," says Taijah Howard, Zola's general manager. "Rent is."
But suddenly, Zola staff took to Facebook to say the bar would stay open through the end of the year and review its options. A glimmer of hope. Was someone going to keep the music playing?
That someone was Nick Velis — a dentist, Spokane Valley native and decadelong Zola regular. When he heard his favorite hangout spot might close, he couldn't let it slide. He rallied a group of half a dozen friends and their spouses to buy Zola together, to the delight and relief of staff and guests alike.
"I didn't understand how much this place meant to people," Howard says. "People rallied around us. They didn't want to see this place go anywhere. They didn't want to see any changes. It meant a lot to me that people wanted to keep Zola going and see it thrive. We were lucky enough to have people [who] wanted to do that for us and take care of us."
The group of new owners wants nothing to do with the spotlight. The staff has always been Zola's heart and soul, and every employee has stayed through the transition. The only staffing change is the addition of new team members, which bodes well for the future of the business.
Two co-owners, Gina Bartelli and Mars Kleist, had just moved from Colorado when they took the opportunity to become a part of Zola's future. Bartelli has plenty of hospitality experience, and her boyfriend Kleist is a musician and sound engineer.
"We came in ready to solve some serious problems," Bartelli says. "But we got here, and it was like, 'Where are the problems?' The staff is unbelievable. People think of Zola, and they think of them. It is home for a lot of people."
Bartelli and Kleist have taken near invisible roles — Kleist behind the soundboard, and Bartelli in the kitchen. Bartelli's first priority was to refresh the menu to revitalize Zola's well-known happy hour.
The kitchen team had already decided to start leaning Mediterranean, which fit Bartelli's Armenian roots perfectly. The new menu features new shareables like fried olives ($12), chicken souvlaki ($12), miso deviled eggs ($7) and arancini ($12), small, deep-fried risotto balls stuffed with cheese and served with a basil marinara. Classic favorites like Zola mac and cheese ($9) and the eye-catching hummus plate ($12) haven't gone anywhere.
Plus, everything on the menu is discounted to under $10 during happy hour, which runs from 4 to 7 pm daily. It's important to the staff that people working a traditional 9-5 still have time to come enjoy an unrushed happy hour after work, or that couples can come grab a drink and a bite before going out for the rest of their evening.
The goal, Howard says, isn't to compete with dinner spots. It's to be a place to spend those extra pockets of time, creating memories from what might have been wasted time. The whole space has always been dedicated to resurrecting the beauty of discarded things, from the license plates paneling the walls to the ribs of a canoe floating above the staircase.
And, of course, the space wouldn't be the same without music. Brittany's House Music and Blake Braley haven't gone anywhere. Musicians are still seeking Zola out as a place to play, so much so that Bartelli hopes to add acoustic live music during happy hour before the typical 8 pm concert starts. Matt Walden, who has over 50,000 monthly listeners on Spotify and over 10 million streams of his top hit, is already set to play a happy hour spot on Saturday, March 9.
"People want to be here," Howard says. "We don't have to look because everybody wants to be here."
So whether you're popping in for an early bite or a late night drink, or you're renting the "poker room" for your birthday, or you're planning your night around the musician in town, Zola has a spot for you. And it will continue to have a spot for you, hopefully for the next 15 years.
Zola • 22 W. Main Ave. • Open Tue-Sat at 4 pm- 12 am • zolainspokane.com • 509-624-2416
