In the heart of Airway Heights, there lies a restaurant that not only serves delectable dishes but also embodies a love story, a passion for the community, and the determination to reach new heights. Wolffy’s Hamburgers, owned by the dynamic duo Jessica and Justin Davis, is a testament to the power of love, ambition, and the commitment to making a difference.
The journey to opening and owning a Wolffy’s began when Justin, a Spokane native, began working in the family restaurant that was then located at Francis and Monroe.
His childhood was filled with fond memories of growing up in the close-knit family community, learning all about the family businesses.
“I worked in all the locations.” Justin explains about his past with Wolffy’s and his parent’s original vision of the first location. “They opened the Francis and Monroe location in 1988. They had this idea that they wanted to have a diner business with 50’s style, with jukeboxes, and all that.”
The family opened multiple locations throughout the years across Spokane and the Spokane Valley area, but by 2004 had sold the restaurant with plans for his parents to retire.
Two years into their retirement, Justin’s parents decided to open a single location on the corner of Sharp and Hamilton in Spokane. “I was off doing my own thing at that point, so they asked me to come and manage the location for them.” Justin shares about taking on a more significant role in the restaurant. “I ran that location for years and that is where I was working when I met my future wife, Jessica.”
Jessica Davis, a native of Florence, Oregon, moved to Spokane to attend college at Eastern Washington University. After a series of life events and staying in the Spokane area, she met Justin in late 2016 at a local gym.
After striking up a platonic friendship over the course of several months, their ambitions led them to embark on a remarkable venture – opening their own Wolffy’s location in Airway Heights. “Jessica had been managing or working in restaurants and with people her entire career, and had always wanted the opportunity to open up her own restaurant.” Said Justin.
Together they scouted out the best locations and landed in Airway Heights. The restaurant opened in 2017, and when Justin’s parents experienced health complications, not only were the two of them running the Airway Heights location, but also the Hamilton and Sharp location. “It’s just me and Jess, bouncing between two locations, trying to figure out how to make it all work.” Justin and Jessica share that in those first few months of working both locations, they were really close friends and would help each other out with their respective kiddos, who were from previous relationships.
Fast forward to spring of 2019 when Jessica and Justin were engaged and planning a wedding. They celebrated with family and friends on June 27th 2019 with a small wedding party and ceremony.
However, life always has a way of throwing curveballs and both Jessica and Justin decided to meet them head on and embark on a career path change.
Justin made the choice after knowing people in law enforcement throughout the years and having conversations with them to join the law enforcement academy. “I thought about it for year, but at this time I’m 35 years old and thought I was probably too old for it,” Justin remembers thinking in 2022, but a friend suggested he try anyway with encouraging thoughts, “He said to me, ‘You’re a prime candidate because you have life experiences. You’ve gone through divorce. You have kids. You can relate to the people that you’re going to be helping.’”
Justin applied and was accepted into the academy and after completing the required course he began patrolling as a Lincoln County Sheriff’s officer in September 2023.
During this time Jessica took on the role of managing Wolffy’s without the daily support of Justin. She continued to flourish, but her desire to continue to help the community began tugging on her. She participated in a few ride-alongs with the local fire department and quickly developed a sense of longing to participate, not as a viewer, but as a first responder.
Jessica had to make hard decisions and weigh all the options before she could decide to make a change. “As a mom, there’s a sense of sometimes having to sacrifice your own hopes and dreams for the betterment of your children,” Jessica shares some of her thoughts. “It was not an easy decision to come to. There were a lot of tears. We talked with the kids. I knew that with the dates that the Academy was going to fall on, that I was going to miss all of wrestling season, and baseball, and track. I’m the mom that shows up to everything. I have never missed a single sporting event. Our oldest is 13 and he looked at me and goes “Mom, it’s one season. You haven’t missed anything in the past. It’s ok. It’s just one season and then you’ll be there again. We know you care.”
Jessica made the decision to apply and was accepted into the West Plains Fire Academy earlier this year. She began classes in February and is on track to graduate in June of this year. “I’m the only woman. I’m the smallest. And I’m the oldest. There’s some of these kids that I could be their mom! They were born the year I graduated high school even!” Jessica jokes about her fellow academy students.
After graduating from the academy, she will become a volunteer first responder. Her goal is to gain experience and knowledge through time spent as a volunteer to better set herself up for when career positions become available.
Q: You have both drastically changed your career path, did you have a moment/ or feeling when you realized you wanted something different?
Jessica: I have always worked very closely with the local service departments with toy drives, Christmas fundraisers and spaghetti feeds for fire victims. Being able to go into this career has opened up an avenue for me to do something I’ve always wanted to do, but be able to serve in a much bigger capacity in my community.
Justin: You don’t go into law enforcement for the pay. The pay is not great. You go into it because of a calling. You feel like this is the right thing to do. Acts of service plays a large role in your lives.
Q: How have you incorporated Wolffy’s into that?
Jessica: We have always participated in Toys for Tots bins, and it started expanding after the Bartholomew fire a few years ago. There were four people in the community that lost their homes and so I got in contact with the fire department and asked, “What can we do?” We (Wolffy’s) put together an event that turned out to be so much bigger than we expected. We hosted a spaghetti feed night. We had employees volunteer to come work it and a lot of people came and participated. I think that was the moment that opened my eyes that we could give back so much to this community.
Justin: One of the guys came to us and said “I don’t need the money. I need help. I have ten acres that were destroyed by this fire. I have downed trees everywhere. I need help with that. Is that something you could do?” I looked into it and by the end of the day Jessica had contacted the Air Force base. We ended up getting it approved to have service members while on duty come out and bring chainsaws, shovels, and trucks. In one day, we cleared up enough to make over 10 slash piles.
Q: Looking to the future, do you have any upcoming community events planned for Wolffy’s?
Jessica: At this moment we don’t have anything planned for summer. But we will participate in the Christmas Shop with a Cop with the police department and will do an additional toy drive as well.
Q: Since you have both been busy studying and attending your respective academies, do you have any fun plans for the summer?
Jessica: Step one is getting through the academy, step two is vacation! We’re very much in need of a vacation after the last two years.
Justin: We are going to Florida! The running joke is that when we retire and we’re finally done, I want no more snow! I’m over snow! After our vacation, we’re spending time with the kids!
Q: Is there something that you would like to say to the Airway Heights community?
Jessica: To my employees, there’s not a world where I would be able to be doing what I am right now without the people that I employ. They have made it possible for me to step out and take on this new role. And to the community, thank you for your support. When people found out that I was making this jump after Justin, I did not realize how many people were standing in the background cheering me on. I can’t thank the community enough for continuing to come in and support the restaurant. Justin: It’s the community and our employees. They have allowed us to do something that has always been important to us. That sense of service and duty to others that we’ve tried to implement in the restaurant, and now being able to provide another different type of community outreach, is almost even more beneficial to the public and great!
