Dick's Drive-In Seattle

Institutions, cities are rife with them. Some good, some bad, some you have no reason why they are such. This is particularly true when it comes to restaurants in cities. Long standing places the locals love and obsess over with seeming reverence that survive for ages and always wind up on lists of places one should go whenever you visit said city. Everywhere I have lived has their stalwarts and as a resident I have usually made a particular point to get by such places to see if they live up to all the hype.

One does run a fine line when talking about these types of places as people always seem to have so much invested in them, especially memories which can be a powerful tool in someones reminisces about a spot. It is particularly interesting when someone such as myself drops in to eat as I have no history with the place and am usually just coming from a stand point of how is the food and I’m here because someone told me I should check it out. After 11 eleven years of doing this I am kind of used to the build up not always matching up to the taste and quality of what is being offered. And while I am not going to tear down ones institutions or said memories of such a place, I am also not gonna sugar coat any shortcomings either. Sometimes these things coalesce and sometimes they don’t.

Seeing as how I have been here almost two months now it seemed like the perfect time to check out one of Seattle’s own institutions, Dick’s Drive-In. This place seemed like a no brainer to me. A classic old school burger joint that opened back in 1954! and is still going strong today with a number of locations around the city. Luckily for me, they have a newly updated spot in my hood a few blocks over from my current abode. It seemed things were aligning here for me to see what they got.

The location I visited is like updated but still set up like burger spots of yesterday. An A-frame-ish shape with a walk-up bank of windows for ordering. No indoor seating (or outdoor for that matter), this is an order and go or sit in your car place just like those crazy kids did in the 50s so you could hang out, eat and listen to those “rock-n-roll” tunes on the radio your parents hated. Post war, pre-60s when things were still supposedly great and before it all went to hell or whatever. These days this spot is in the gay neighborhood of Capital Hill so the vibe is a little different but the menu and the lines I see most days are still the same. The fact each time I walk by here and always see people lining up I take as a good sign maybe Dick’s meets expectations to earn its institution title.

The menu is simple and straight forward—burgers, fries, shakes and ice cream—it is the classic of yore you see in movies. And the pricing, particularly in these times is also wallet friendly. I’m guessing this is one of the reasons people chow down here. The most expensive burger is the double at about $5. Everything else is a single and less than $3. Thus with a full combo—burger, fries and a drink—you can get out of here in much less than a ten spot. Definitely appealing.

Of course if I am going to eat here I am going to go all in with Dick’s deluxe double cheeseburger. I mean $4.85? Why not. Two eighth of a pound 100% all beef patties with American cheese, shredded lettuce, mayonnaise and…..pickled relish? Sure why not. If you are going to try local, do it their way.

Turns out the pickle relish is sweet and the two times I’ve been here, they do seem to put quite a bit of it on the burger. They also don’t seem to skip on the mayo either. It made for weirdly sweet burger bites, at least to me. While I enjoy the occasional addition of relish I found the sweet here too much and not to my liking. I guess in essence I am traditional and prefer the tangy crisp slices one normally gets. I did kind of crave some kind of off-setting flavor to the sweet and while ketchup or mustard would have been nice, turns out, to get a packet of ketchup at this place you have to pay for it. Not something I have encountered before and it kind of put me off a bit. Though I am going to go with the idea it is their way of keeping down costs. They’ve been open this long, I guess they know. Otherwise you have to get one of the singles to get ketchup, mustard though not pickle of the slice or relish kind.

For the burger itself I did like the taste, as they are not the frozen kind you get from other fast food places so it tasted like hamburger without the weird metallic aftertaste one sometimes gets from a frozen burger. McD’s this ain’t and that is a good thing. They do get their buns daily from a local baker and I am just guessing it is these folks who have a large production facility down in the SODO neighborhood. While I will say it was fine, it did suffer from all the mayo and excess wet relish as it sogged up long before I even got halfway through eating it.

I guess this is one of those local things in how people eat certain foods. Like in Chicago they put pickles and tomatoes and things on hot dogs. Or in Cincinnati where they put chili and shredded cheese on spaghetti or the South where we put gravy on pretty much anything. It is a regional taste that may not appeal to everyone. That is how I am gonna rate this, as a specialized taste profile which isn’t necessarily something I am a fan of. Doesn’t make it bad, just doesn’t make it for me.

The side of fries though I was down for scarfing up. Real Pacific Northwest potatoes (as their menu states) hand cut daily and deep fried in sunflower oil. I do like when skin is left on as it give you a good mix of ones that get super crispy down to ones that are a little soft. Each time they were also quite well salted, something which doesn’t always happen at some places. The only drawback, they have one size, but I guess you can always order multiples of the small and just be a glutton. Wouldn’t be my first time.

I’m not here to knock down institutions (mostly), I get the appeal of Dick’s (and yes, I also get the snickering of that statement too!). It is an old school burger joint sticking to what it has done the best over the years and seemingly has kept them going for nearly 70 years. Between the pricing and the simple vibes I do understand it’s appeal to folks. The one in my hood is also open till 2am! and considering the number of bars around I can see why this place also gets a pretty steady late night flow. Gotta fill up on grease and bread to soak up all the alcohol before, after and during bar hopping without breaking the budget. I will most likely be going back for some of those fries, maybe even during a night out, though I’d pass on the burger and save the cash for more booze. Priorities you know.