The year 2016 isn’t even a fortnight old, and already so many losses, so many deaths. Musical legends Lemmy, Natalie, Pierre, and David; actors Pat Harrington and Angus Scrimm; sports legends like Monte Irvin, and many more have left these our shores for kinder places.
In Seattle, though, the loss that resonates is the passing of Dick Spady, 92-year-old founder of Dick’s burger joints. A Seattle institution, Dick’s was and continues to be an integral part of the Seattle fabric. From its start with the Wallingford location in 1954, Dick’s now has six locations, including the most recent one that opened in Edmonds in 2011.
Six restaurants doesn’t sound like an “empire” or anything, and that’s not what Dick’s was about. Rampant growth wasn’t part of Dick’s game plan; rather, Dick’s was about consistency, dependability, and community.
I wrote about the experience of dining at Dick’s a while ago. I hold those sentiments, still.
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Angus Scrimm! I had no idea he died. This is a rough start.
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Indeed.
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I couldn’t help but wonder what will happen now — who’s running the store? That was not mentioned in the news articles about the passing of Dick Spady but presumably others have been in oversight of the business for a while.
Dairy Queen is a nationwide chain but just to compare it to Dick’s, in Seattle it started out in the 1950’s with window-ordering of hamburgers. Then it migrated outside of the Seattle City Limits to get away from taxes and building restrictions. Now DQ is a sit-down restaurant with a wider menu.
Dick’s would not be able to change anything about their stores now, because Seattle’s current building code does not allow that kind of vast parking lot and a building set back from the street. So they are stuck with staying the same or moving away.
http://wedgwoodinseattlehistory.com/2013/04/12/dairy-queen-in-wedgwood/
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In 2013 it was reported that the company was run by his sons. His granddaughter is a spokesperson. So it’s still very much a family affair.
And I’m not sure they _want_ to change the model and expand to more of a “dine-in” experience. Like Burgermaster (also family owned and operated, also with only six locations), they fill a niche that doesn’t need to change.
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(For reference: The *other* Cheap Seat Eats writer — the one that *likes* Dicks.)
Dining at Dicks feels somewhat like when I was a small person — Our family taking the fake-wood-paneled enormous station wagon to A&W… back when we could still order over the loudspeaker and they’d come out and hang your tray over the side of the driver’s-side window.
Dick’s is comfort food.
That car was a behemoth of steel, brown paint, fake wood paneling, and vinyl upholstery. We could fit a whole soccer team in it, though there were only enough seatbelts for six.
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I also thought of A&W drive-ins last night, in response to this news. We used to go in the old pink Rambler. And seat belts? What are those?
I see that A&W still has the “Papa” burger, but the “Mama” and “Junior” burgers have been renamed. Alas.
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