Dick's Drive-In, or simply Dick's, is a

fast-food Fast food is a type of mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. It is a commercial term, limited to food sold in a restaurant or store with frozen, preheated or precooked ingredient ...

restaurant chain A chain store or retail chain is a retail outlet in which several locations share a brand, central management and standardized business practices. They have come to dominate the retail and dining markets and many service categories, in many pa ...

located in the

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

area. It was founded in 1954 by Dick Spady, H. Warren Ghormley, and Dr. B.O.A. Thomas. It currently operates eight locations in the

Puget Sound region The Puget Sound region is a coastal area of the Pacific Northwest in the U.S. state of Washington, including Puget Sound, the Puget Sound lowlands, and the surrounding region roughly west of the Cascade Range and east of the Olympic Mountains. ...

History

Dick's Drive-In Wallingford at night 03 - colormapped

Founders Dick Spady, H. Warren Ghormley, and Dr. B. O. A. Thomas opened the first Dick's on January 28, 1954, in Seattle's Wallingford neighborhood, on N.E. 45th Street. A grand opening was held on February 20, 1954. In 1955, a second Dick's was opened in Seattle's Capitol Hill district. This was followed by a third in 1960 in the Crown Hill neighborhood, a 4th in 1963 in Lake City, a fifth in Queen Anne in 1974. All but the Queen Anne location are without customer seating. The Queen Anne location has indoor tables and no drive-in. The simple menu has changed little over time. It features fast-food staples such as

hamburger A hamburger, or simply burger, is a food consisting of fillings—usually a patty of ground meat, typically beef—placed inside a sliced bun or bread roll. Hamburgers are often served with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, bacon, ...

s, hand-cut french fries, and individually made milkshakes. Dick's is particularly well known for the "Dick's Deluxe," which includes

lettuce Lettuce (''Lactuca sativa'') is an annual plant of the family Asteraceae. It is most often grown as a leaf vegetable, but sometimes for its stem and seeds. Lettuce is most often used for salads, although it is also seen in other kinds of food, ...

, mayonnaise, and chopped pickles. No substitutions are allowed and all burgers are cooked to

well done Doneness is a gauge of how thoroughly cooked a cut of meat is based on its color, juiciness, and internal temperature. The gradations are most often used in reference to beef (especially steaks and roasts) but are also applicable to other type ...

. For most of Dick's history, the only available omissions were the Deluxe without cheese or fries without salt. More recent menu changes, however, allow ordering plain versions of the hamburger and cheeseburger. Dick's Drive-In on Broadway, Seattle, 1955

Dick's Drive-In on Broadway, Seattle, 1955

For several years Dick's has offered employee benefits such as a 50% matched

401(k) In the United States, a 401(k) plan is an employer-sponsored, defined-contribution, personal pension (savings) account, as defined in subsection 401(k) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. Periodical employee contributions come directly out of the ...

, 100% employer-paid medical insurance, and a college tuition scholarship (currently at $28,000) accessible after six months of employment. In 2013, Dick's Drive-In was voted "the most life-changing burger joint in America" in an Esquire.com poll. In September 2010, it was announced that Dick's was planning on opening a new sixth location in the Seattle area and that an online poll on their website would determine the new location. After a few weeks of polling, the area north of Seattle won the right for a new Dick's Drive-In. On October 15, 2010, Dick's officials announced the new location to be in Edmonds on the corner of Hwy 99 and 220th St. On October 20, 2011, the 6th location in Edmonds opened to the public. The opening occurred multiple weeks ahead of schedule. In 2017, Dick's launched another poll to determine its seventh location, which would be located either on the Eastside or in South King County. Over 177,000 participants cast their votes, with the majority favoring the South region. Locations being considered included

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

West Seattle West Seattle is a conglomeration of neighborhoods in Seattle, Washington, United States. It comprises two of the thirteen districts, Delridge and Southwest, and encompasses all of Seattle west of the Duwamish River. It was incorporated as an i ...

, South Seattle, Renton, Burien, SeaTac, Tukwila, Auburn, Normandy Park, Des Moines and

Federal Way Federal Way is a city in King County, Washington, United States. One of the most recently incorporated cities in the county, its population was 101,030 at the 2020 census. Federal Way is the tenth-largest city in Washington and the fifth-larges ...

. After an extensive amount of time, it was announced on September 7, 2017, that the 7th location to the chain would be located in

on Highway 99, south of Sea-Tac Airport. The location opened on December 12, 2018. In September 2020, Dick's announced that it would launch a

food truck A food truck is a large motorized vehicle (such as a van) or trailer, equipped to cook, prepare, serve, and/or sell food. Some, including ice cream trucks, sell frozen or prepackaged food; others have on-board kitchens and prepare food from scratc ...

to serve five locations in Western Washington that were chosen through a public poll:

Bellevue Bellevue means "beautiful view" in French. It may refer to: Placenames Australia * Bellevue, Western Australia * Bellevue Hill, New South Wales * Bellevue, Queensland * Bellevue, Glebe, an historic house in Sydney, New South Wales Canada ...

, Bellingham, Everett, Renton, and

. The restaurant also announced that it would be expanding to the Eastside once a suitable location is found. A collaboration with local chef Edouardo Jordan of Salare and JuneBaby was also announced with a three-day popup event at the Queen Anne location. In December 2021, Dick's opened an Eastside location at the Crossroads Shopping Center in Bellevue. Dick's then announced on April 28, 2022, that it would open a ninth location at

The Commons The commons is the cultural and natural resources accessible to all members of a society, including natural materials such as air, water, and a habitable Earth. These resources are held in common even when owned privately or publicly. Commons c ...

shopping center in

in 2023.

Locations

* Wallingford (opened on January 28, 1954) * Capitol Hill (opened in 1955) * Crown Hill (opened in 1957) * Lake City (opened in 1963) * Lower Queen Anne (opened in 1974) *

Edmonds Edmonds may refer to: * Edmonds (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the surname) * Edmonds, Washington, a city in Washington, US ** Edmonds station (Washington), a passenger train station in Washington, US * Edmonds station (SkyTr ...

(opened on October 20, 2011) *

(opened on December 12, 2018) *

(opened in 1965; closed in 1974) * Bellevue Crossroads (opened December 16, 2021) *

(planned to open in 2023) There is also an unrelated Dick's Hamburgers restaurant in

Spokane Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Ca ...

. Although this is a drive-in, operated in much the same manner as the six drive-in locations of the Seattle chain (and with a larger menu), it is not affiliated with Dick's Drive-In.

In popular culture

* Seattle-native rapper

Sir Mix-a-Lot Anthony L. Ray (born August 12, 1963), better known by his stage name Sir Mix-a-Lot, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for his 1992 hit song " Baby Got Back", which peaked at number one on the ''Billboard'' ...

places a scene of his 1988 song "

Posse on Broadway "Posse on Broadway" is a hip hop song first recorded by Sir Mix-a-Lot on his 1988 debut album ''Swass''. He also released a music video. The single is regarded as Mix-a-Lot’s career breakthrough and the first golden age hip-hop record from ou ...

" at Dick's on Capitol Hill, describing it as a hangout for the rich and cool.Marino, Nick. "Geek Love: Sir Mix-A-Lot". ''CMJ New Music Monthly'' (May 2002)

References

External links

* {{Restaurants in Seattle 1954 establishments in Washington (state) Companies based in Seattle Drive-in restaurants Fast-food chains of the United States Fast-food hamburger restaurants Regional restaurant chains in the United States Restaurants established in 1954 Restaurants in Seattle

History

Locations

In popular culture

See also

References

External links