If there is one restaurant chain that is described as an institution of Seattle, it has to be Dick’s Drive In, or at least that was what I was told.
We took a short detour after the zoo trip to find a Dick’s as I wanted to see what it is all about. We were not really hungry at all, after all the food in Shari’s.
Dick’s is exactly what I had imagined it to be. It is old-fashioned, no-frills kind of place reminiscent of 1950s, the date that Dick’s first opened in Seattle. All these years, Dick had resisted changes and seems like doing a good job at it too. The owners had made a conscious decision to not open outlets outside of the Seattle area.
Almost all the Dicks are simple outlets. They do not have seatings; they are what it is described to be … a drive-in.
They have a very simple menu. I thought In-N-Out had simple menus, Dick’s menu is even simpler. They only have burgers, shakes and fries. Even that, they have have no variation … i.e. for burgers, it’s just Deluxe and Special. If you crave for stuff like chicken, tacos, curly fries, forget it.
Dick’s philosophy is simple … the food must be affordable and quickly prepared. We only got ourselves a shake which costs $2. We’ll be back someday for their burgers but that day, we were simply too full to eat.
BTW, they only accept cash.
There are Dick’s with indoor seating. I’ve been to one but I can’t tell you which location.
I think the one you’re referring to is the Seattle Center/Lower Queen Anne location.
Too bad you guys didn’t actually eat anything ! You could have brought me back some 😉