Dick's Drive-In

Three men opened the first Dick's in Seattle's Wallingford neighborhood on January 28, 1954, and the place was drawn up by Raymond Peck, a Seattle architect whose design for that original spot got repeated at later spots, the Queen Anne one excepted [1]. The grand opening came that February [1]. A second followed on Capitol Hill in 1955, then Crown Hill, Lake City, and a first venture past the city limits into Bellevue in 1965 [1]. Bellevue is the one that closed, in 1974, after a Herfy's with indoor seating opened across the street, and Queen Anne opened the same year [1]. The Spady family bought out the other two partners and turned to expansion, and Dick's let the public pick where [1]. Edmonds won the northern vote and opened in 2011, Kent won the next poll and opened in 2018, Bellevue Crossroads came in 2021, and Federal Way in 2023 [1]. An Esquire.com reader vote in 2013 gave it top marks among American burger joints for changing lives [1].