Pullman Community Update
VOL. 25 | NO. 4 APRIL 2020
CITY OF PULLMAN | PULLMAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE | PULLMAN REGIONAL HOSPITAL | PULLMAN SCHOOL DISTRICT | WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY
Round Top Public House slated for WSU’s Palouse Ridge Golf Club
Jim Harbour is opening Round Top Public House at the Palouse Ridge Golf Course.
The Palouse Ridge Golf Course is seen from above.
The restaurant at Palouse Ridge Golf Course features patio seating with a fantastic view of the green.
The new restaurant takes its name from a pastoral, pine-topped knoll with panoramic views of the Palouse. Roundtop Hill, on the northwest end of WSU Pullman, “means a lot to people who have been around Pullman a long time,” says Jim Harbour, who grew up and graduated from high school here and now teaches in the School of Hospitality Business Management at Carson College. He’s also co-owner of the new Round Top Public House at Palouse Ridge Golf Club. Unlike golf season, which generally runs March through October around these parts, the new eatery will remain open all year. And Harbour, a clinical associate professor who owns and operates several restaurants in Pullman, wants people to know it’s open to everyone—not only those who tee off. That’s why “public house” is part of the name, too. To be successful, Harbour says, “We have to create an environment that goes beyond golf.” Harbour owns Round Top Public House with business partner Wade Dissmore, another Pullman native. Both are WSU grads. “I think the common goal that inspired both Wade and me is to keep Pullman consumers in Pullman and to keep visitors to Pullman in Pullman a little longer,” he says.
Harbour and Dissmore own South Fork Public House in Pullman’s Wheatland Shopping Center as well as Fork in the Road Catering, which provides concessions for the new Cougar Den in Beasley Coliseum. Harbour also owns downtown Pullman’s Porch Light Pizza with his wife, Jennifer, who grew up here, too. So did Dissmore’s wife, Mindy. After graduating from WSU, Harbour (’99 Hotel and Restaurant Admin.) moved to Phoenix and then Irvine, California, to gain experience in the hospitality industry. He returned to the Inland Northwest in late 2000 to manage the nowclosed Sawtooth Grill in Spokane’s downtown River Park Square shopping mall. He earned an MBA from Gonzaga University in 2005 and moved back to Pullman with his family in 2012. By then, he was already teaching at WSU Pullman and South Fork had already opened. His eateries collectively employ about 120 people. That number goes up to about 200 during football season, says Harbour, who expects to add 30 to 40 employees at the new restaurant. Round Top Public House encompasses nearly 9,000 square feet, including the main dining and bar area and accompanying pavilion. JW Links, Harbour and Dissmore’s hospitality company, is leasing the space for five years, with an option
to extend the agreement to a decade. After signing the lease in early January, they spent the first part of the new year on renovations. The space had held the Banyans on the Ridge restaurant since WSU’s 18hole Palouse Ridge Golf Club opened in 2008. Dissmore (’97 Hotel and Restaurant Admin.) and Harbour are giving it a facelift, adding 10 booths, a coat of gray paint, and more counter space. They’re also working with local artist and farmer Brady Boon to come up with signature works for the new restaurant, which seats about 100 people. The menu is meant to be approachable and fun. “We want to—instead of another version of pub grub—present our version of street foods from around the world and our version of ethnic foods,” Harbour says. WSU stands to earn 5 percent on gross annual sales exceeding $1.3 million, in addition to the annual base rent of $100,000 in the first year. “We want it to be welcoming to all,” Harbour says. “We’re here for one reason: to create great food, great service, and a great atmosphere. The fact that it’s on a golf course is just extra.” On the web: palouseridge.com/ round-top-public-house.
CougsGive set for April 28 This one-day fundraising event is dedicated to expanding, sharing, and celebrating the impact of donor support at WSU. Monies raised go toward scholarships, programs, and more. Donors help make the day a success by making gifts to the areas they care about most. For more info, visit cougsgive. wsu.edu.
In This Issue… Washington State University 1 Alternatives to Violence of the Palouse 3 Community Action Center 5 Pullman School District 6-7 Crime Victim Service Center 9-10 Whitman County Humane Society 11 Community Calendar 12-13 Pullman Regional Hospital 14-15 City of Pullman 16-17 Pullman Good Food Co-op 18 Pullman Chamber of Commerce 19-20 Spokane Falls Community Colleges 21 Gladish Community & Cultural Center 22
PULLMAN Community Update ccooperpullman@gmail.com