Coming soon to Airway Heights: Southern food, family fun

Four Lakes family opens ambitious new business next week

By RYAN LANCASTER

Staff Reporter

Over the past seven months a local couple has transformed a long-vacant Airway Heights bowling alley into their dream – a family restaurant and activity center that will offer everything from Foosball to southern cooking.

Four Lakes residents Robert and Stephanie Brasefield said it's taken a lot of work to clean and remodel the 1950s-era building behind Zip's Restaurant at 1500 S. Russell St., which six years ago was home to the Trade-A-Game Fun Center.

“When we came in this building was a complete time capsule,” Stephanie Brasefield said. “(The former business owners) literally just walked out the door, turned the key and that was it.”

The business will be named Southern Cross, a nod to the owners' Southern Baptist roots and a menu that includes homemade barbecue ribs and other southern-style food. Brasefield will do most of the cooking and said she inherited a number of family recipes from her Missouri-born grandmother, who passed away soon after the project began. Some of the dishes date as far back as the 1800s.

Besides a family dining area the couple has big ideas for the rest of the space. Snack bar fare like hot dogs and ice cream will be served at a lunch counter and espresso and coffee drinks will compliment an adjacent high speed Internet café. A full range of entertainment offerings, including video games, air hockey, ping pong and a bounce castle, will keep the kids happy nearby, and there are future plans to build a stage to host live bands, a family karaoke night and bingo.

Brasefield said Southern Cross will employ four or five people besides herself and Robert.

The business will offer private parties and special events, and Brasefield is looking into coordinating with the city's community center and local schools to host special days for senior citizens and students. While not affiliated with any specific church, Southern Cross will also be open to accommodating local youth groups, she said.

“We're really trying to bring Airway Heights a positive environment for families and a youth center for kids,” Brasefield said.

There's plenty yet to do – the couple was putting in 14-16 hour days on the project earlier this month – but Brasefield said all will be ready before Southern Cross opens for business next week. An official grand opening party is scheduled for Saturday, April 16, from 4 to 10 p.m., with food, games and prizes. An Easter dinner and egg hunt is slated for 4 p.m. the following Saturday, April 23.

Regular hours of operation will be Mondays through Saturdays from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. For more information call 509-720-3463 or search Southern Cross on Facebook.

Ryan Lancaster can be reached at [email protected].