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    Seattle's Historic Restaurants
    Seattle's Historic Restaurants
    Seattle's Historic Restaurants
    Ebook215 pages49 minutes

    Seattle's Historic Restaurants

    By Robin Shannon

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    About this ebook

    Seattle’s Historic Restaurants depicts an era of nostalgia and romanticism, and highlights historic photographs of restaurants, postcards, and menus. From 1897 to 1898, thousands of so-called stampeders came through Seattle on their way to the Klondike goldfields. Hungry stampeders could purchase a meal at the Merchant’s Café (the oldest café in Seattle) or one of the many restaurants nearby. For the next 25 years, those who made it rich in Seattle were the restaurateurs, shop owners, and real estate owners. Famous local landmarks such as the Space Needle, Mount Rainier’s Paradise Camp, Snoqualmie Falls, and the Empress Hotel are still here, but their menus and clientele have changed over the years. Local haunts like Ivar’s Acres of Clams, The Dog House, Andy’s Diner, Clark’s Restaurants, Coon Chicken Inn, Frederick and Nelson’s Tea Room, The Wharf, Von’s, The Purple Pup, and the Jolly Roger are just a few of the restaurants featured within.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateOct 20, 2008
    ISBN9781439642528
    Seattle's Historic Restaurants
    Author

    Robin Shannon

    Robin Shannon is the author of two previous books in Arcadia�s Images of America series: Cemeteries of Seattle and Seattle�s Historic Restaurants. In this volume, Seattle�s historic hotels are preserved in more than 200 vintage photographs, postcards, and memorabilia, allowing readers to revisit visionary hoteliers and magnificent architecture of the past.

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      Book preview

      Seattle's Historic Restaurants - Robin Shannon

      Enjoy!

      INTRODUCTION

      Seattle voters approved a statewide prohibition law by 61 percent in 1914. In Washington State, from 1916 to 1933, Prohibition outlawed the manufacture, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages.

      On January 1, 1916, Washington State joined 18 other dry states in prohibiting the sale of intoxicating liquor. The closed saloon signs said everything: Died December 31, 1915, Gone but Not Soon to Be Forgotten, Stock Closed Out—Nothing Left, A Happy and Dry New Year, and Closed to Open Soon as a Soft Drink Emporium.

      This new law closed breweries and saloons, but it permitted private citizens to acquire permits from county auditors to import 12 quarts of beer or two quarts of hard liquor every 20 days.

      A bone dry Prohibition amendment of the U.S. Constitution was passed in 1919, which then prohibited all liquor sales, manufacturing, and transportation, excluding druggists, in the United States.

      The biggest bootlegger during Seattle’s dry years of the 1920s was Roy Olmstead. The 18th amendment that prohibited intoxicating liquor backfired; it spawned more corruption and lawlessness instead of diminishing them.

      On December 5, 1933, Prohibition was repealed with the 21st amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The manufacture, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages were no longer illegal, and the Seattle City Council enacted an emergency ordinance allowing the sale of wine and beer.

      Seattle was calm on the first night of legal liquor. R. B. Berman, a reporter for the Seattle Post- Intelligencer, wrote on December 6, 1933: You walked into a bar on lower 3rd Ave. There were nine people in the place. A venerable bartender stood with folded arms, looking at the wallpaper. ‘Brandy and soda? Yessir. No, the crowd’s nothing extra tonight. In fact, it’s very slow tonight. Must be the rain.’

      Blue laws in Washington State stated that taverns could only sell beer and wine, and hard liquor could not be sold. Additionally, liquor sales were forbidden on Sundays. Beer and wine could also be bought at the local grocery store. Washington State retains a monopoly on sales of hard liquor to this date. However, hard liquor can now be bought on Sundays, and taverns can now sell hard drinks if licensed.

      Following the Depression, nearly everyone ate at home. In 1949, liquor by the drink became legal, which took cocktails out of private clubs and started the modern-day era of restaurants in Washington State. Elegant restaurants started serving liquor coupled with expensive dinners, creating a higher profit margin.

      Many restaurants featured broiled meats. Andy’s Diner had a charcoal broiler that was the heart of the dining room. Canlis has been serving steaks from its charcoal broiler for 58 years. Canlis was also the first Northwest restaurant to feature an open charcoal grill where guests could watch chefs grilling prime, Midwest, dry-aged steaks; king salmon; and fresh Pacific mahimahi over Kiawe charcoal brought in from Hawaii. El Gaucho was and still is a nostalgic dining experience where steaks and seafood are broiled on a bed of coals. Pancho’s served From the Live Charcoal Broiler. Garski’s Scarlett Tree served a sumptuous broiled lobster tail costing $2.75 from its broiler. Others that jumped on the bandwagon were Les Brainard’s new Grove restaurant, Clark’s Crabapple, Clark’s Totem Café, and Clark’s Windjammer.

      The 1950s were a busy time that saw a boom of local fast food places. In the 1960s, chain restaurants popped up. Then in the 1970s, there were tons of new restaurants to choose from. Many restaurants have come and gone, and a few have stood the test of time. Fredericks Tea Room might be gone, but the Empress Hotel in Vancouver still serves an afternoon tea service. No roads lead to the Dog House, but the Space Needle still revolves in the sky. The Jolly Roger has been torn down, but the elegance of Canlis still leaves one breathless. The Snoqualmie Falls Lodge no longer has that country feel but has been transformed into the sophisticated Salish Lodge. Ivar’s is still Ivar’s. One can still order a fine cocktail at these places, but it will cost a bit more.

      One

      SEATTLE AREA’S

      OLDEST CAFÉS

      Early structures in downtown Seattle were typically wooden and nearly all burned to the ground in the great Seattle Fire of 1889. Built after the fire, the Merchant’s Café, considered the oldest standing restaurant in Seattle, has been in almost continuous use since its founding in 1890. In its 118 years of operation in Pioneer Square, it has survived riots, numerous earthquakes, and a somewhat sordid history. HistoryLink.org reports that there were 92 restaurants in Seattle in 1900. Early 1900 families ate their meals at home, while single men on their way to the gold fields would spend their money and time hanging around in the local bars and cafés.

      Featured in this chapter, the 1908 Royal Bar and Café was located on First Avenue in downtown Seattle and gives the readers a glimpse of early city life. Several cafés like the 1910 Gerald’s Café, located in the Coleman Building, and the 1910 Spier Caféteria, where the Norton Building is now, are covered in this chapter. The Bessie B. Waffle Shop had a huge clientele that followed the business from place to place. While these are older places of business few will remember, they are of historic value. Merchant’s Café is still open; have you eaten there? While many travel Snoqualmie Pass, how many know that there was once a 1920s restaurant at Denny Creek?

      MERCHANT’S CAFÉ. This c. 1911 photograph of Pioneer Square shows

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