Dick’s still going strong at 59

Dick Spady was just a kid of 29 when he started Dick’s Drive-In in 1954. Monday marked the Seattle-based burger joint’s 59th birthday and his son, Jim Spady, says his dad is still very involved in his namesake at age 89.

“He’s still the president of the company, still going strong, still very interested in the drive-in and making sure that we continue to cook well and serve our customers quickly, charge fair prices and treat our employees well,” said Spady.

With six locations now, Spady calls his restaurant chain a small Seattle icon.

“Every town of any size has a favorite burger joint and we’re lucky that we’re Seattle’s favorite burger joint and we were here before everyone else and we’ve been serving great food for 59 years,” said Spady.

Spady says Dick’s has survived the explosion of fast food joints by doing what it does well, using fresh, not frozen products and hand dipping its milkshakes.

The latest outlet in Edmonds is cooking, so might Dick’s finally open an Eastside location?

“We did promise that if it was successful that we would eventually open restaurants both in the Eastside and in the south end and we will do that. But we are a small business and we can only afford to grow so fast,” Spady cautioned.

Tuesday, the Dick’s birthday celebration continues with two-for-one burgers from 2 until 6:30 p.m. And Spady said brainstorming is already underway for next year’s 60th birthday celebration.