September 22: Dick's Drive-In

A little more than a month ago, Dick's announced that they'd begin taking credit cards in September. I never realized that they didn't because -- much to the horror of my family and co-workers -- I'd never been to Dick's.  Despite the fact that I went to U.W. and have been to Seattle hundreds of times, it was a gap in my culinary experience.

The news stories about it prompted me to set up a "welcome to Seattle" lunch outing with my co-workers. Just a few minutes away by light rail, the Capitol Hill location had shorter lines than I expected. I told one co-worker that I was going in with fairly low expectations, thinking back to the cheap 49¢ "Smitty Burgers" sold at a shop near my high school.

My expectations were exceeded. Service was quick, and (full disclosure) a co-worker picked up the tab for all eight of us. We carried our meals over to Cal Anderson Park, about a half block away.

The Dick's Deluxe burger was good, with the lettuce and sauce protecting the bun from the light grease of the patty, preventing mushiness. The fries were adequate, exceeding my low expectations, but still floppy and without the satisfying snap of well-cooked fries. The chocolate milkshake was exactly as expected; although the menu says "hand dipped", it tasted like it was from a machine. That's not necessarily a bad thing -- machine-made shakes have their place, and this was a pretty good version of it.

It wasn't bad at all. I went in expecting a classic, cheap burger stand meal, and it was on the high end of those expectations. It's on my go-back-in-December list.

Dick's Drive-In
115 Broadway Ave. E.
Dick's Deluxe, fries, milkshake, $8.06

Photo by Teri Rongen

Photo by Teri Rongen

Photo by Rachel McCall