Dick’s Drive-In Opens New Location in Federal Way this Thursday

Federal Way, WA – Dick’s Drive-In, the iconic burger restaurant, beloved by generations of Washingtonians, is opening its newest location at 10:30AM on July 27, 2023. The restaurant is located at 32048 Pacific Hwy S  at the Commons at Federal Way. Special events are planned for three days in celebration of the opening of Dick’s 9th location. Go to www.ddir.com or Facebook.com/DicksDriveIn for the most current information.

King County Councilmember Peter Von Reichbauer, Federal Way Deputy Mayor Susan Honda, Federal Way City Council Members, Federal Way Chamber of Commerce President Rebecca Martin, Highline College President Dr. John Mosby, Dick’s Drive-In President Jasmine Donovan, and of course the 12 winners of Dick’s Drive-In Orange Ticket Contest will be present to help us cut the ribbon to open the new restaurant!

Opening Weekend Special Events:
Dick’s open 10:30 AM to 2 AM

​​ “We’re delighted to be serving delicious burgers, fries, shakes and memories in Federal Way!” says Jasmine Donovan, President and CFO of Dick’s Drive-In and granddaughter of its co-founder and namesake, Dick Spady. “We have been in love with this location ever since our first south sound location search in 2017, when over 170,000 customers voted and overwhelmingly said they wanted us to open locations south of Seattle. I’m very grateful to our landlord Merlone Geier, the City of Federal Way and the construction team at Schuchart Construction for making this restaurant possible.”

“Dick Spady’s almost 70-year legacy of being a good neighbor and a good employer, is alive and well with his granddaughter Jasmine Donovan and their staff”, said Councilmember Pete von Reichbauer. “I am excited that Federal Way is now one the lucky cities where people will be able to satisfy their midnight cravings for Dick’s Deluxe, fries, and milkshakes.”

“Our community has eagerly anticipated the grand opening of Dick’s Drive-in at The Commons! We welcome President Jasmine Donovan and her fantastic Dick’s Drive-in team to Federal Way with open arms. Our City is excited about the Dick’s Drive-in ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate this historic moment!” 

“We are thrilled to welcome Dick’s Drive-In to the Commons at Federal Way,” said James G William, Project Manager at Merlone Geier Partners. “Dick’s will be yet another exciting addition to our redevelopment of the former Sears site joining Amazon Fresh, Burlington, Pet Supplies Plus and many others.”

All Dick’s Drive-In locations are open from 10:30 AM to 2 AM every day, except Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. 

The crew of the new Dick’s Drive-In in Federal Way have been training at the Kent, Crossroads and Seattle locations since November. A handful of veteran employees will lend a hand during the opening weeks.

Dick’s Drive-In is known for paying the best wages and benefits in the industry, starting all employees at $20, with 100% employer paid platinum health insurance plan for all employees and a $28,000 scholarship and childcare program for all employees working over 20 hours a week. Dick’s Drive-In employs over 400 people in the region and each new location adds about 50 jobs. 

​​​​The original Dick’s Drive-In location opened in January 1954 on NE 45th street in Wallingford. The founders Dick Spady, Warren Ghormley and Dr “Tom” Thomas opened this and four additional locations in Seattle. The Spady family bought out the other two partners in 1991. The first new Dick’s location in 37 years opened in Edmonds in 2011 after a customer vote on the location. The Kent location opened in 2018 and the Crossroads location in Bellevue opened in 2021. 

To ensure that everyone gets the chance to enjoy a burger, fry and shake during the opening days, order quantities will be limited per customer. Please check information at the restaurant daily.

Food trucks and dessert vans from four of the region’s most well-known local brands, Anthony’s, Dick’s Drive-In, Jenny Cookies and Trophy Cupcakes are hitting the road this December to spread holiday cheer and raise money for Mary’s Place No Child Sleeps Outside campaign.

One of the many things these local businesses have in common is that they are all lead by mothers. “It has been such an incredible year of ups and downs,” said Amy Burns, Vice President of Operations at Anthony’s. “We really want to spend time giving back this holiday season and it seems right to team up with other moms leading beloved local businesses to make that happen.” Anthony’s Restaurants has been especially impacted by the shutdown of indoor dining both earlier in the year and in the most recent restrictions.

“Our families have faced unexpected challenges this year, not the least of which for me personally was running a business with young remote learners at home,” said Jasmine Donovan, President of Dick’s Drive-In Restaurants. “We can’t even imagine what it must be like to go through all this year threw at us without a safe place to call home, trying to do remote learning from a car or a tent.”

“At Trophy, we believe every day should be a celebration,” said Jennifer Shae, Founder of Trophy Cupcakes. “Everyone is looking forward to the end of an exhausting year. What better way to welcome the holiday season and a bright New Year than to enjoy delicious food and incredible desserts while also helping those in our community who are most vulnerable?”

The Care-A-Van will be joined on New Year’s Eve by Jenny Cookies Cookie Metro Truck. “This year has made us realize more than ever what kind of impact we can make on others,” said Jenny Keller founder of Jenny Cookies.  “At Jenny Cookies Bake Shop we’ve continued to keep going despite the unknowns and the uncertainties because we are so much more than just a cookie.  We are grateful for the opportunity to close the year helping Mary’s Place and children in our very own community.  We believe in not only spreading buttercream, but also happiness and hope to as many people as we can.  The best is yet to come!”

The Holiday Care-A-Van will serve specialty items from each of our iconic Northwest businesses with 10% of the sales donated to Mary’s Place No Child Sleeps Outside campaign.  Please join us as we spread holiday cheer and raise funds for families in need at the following locations:

• Saturday, December 5^th: 4-7PM Port of Everett’s Holiday on the Bay Drive-In Theater at Boxcar Park 1200 Millwright Loop West, Everett, WA 98201
• Thursday, December 23^rd: 3-7PM at Lake Boren Park, 13058 SE 84^th Way, Newcastle, WA 98056
• Thursday, December 31^st: 5-8PM at Ashton Apartments in Bellevue 10710 NE 10th St. Bellevue WA 98004

If you can’t make it out to one of the Care-A-Van stops, you can still help:

• Purchase a No Child Sleeps Outside 4-pack of cupcakes from Trophy Cupcakes online for pickup or delivery. Learn more at TrophyCupcakes.com
• RoundUp for Charity at any Dick’s Drive-In location in December. All donations go to the No Child Sleeps Outside campaign. Learn more at DDIR.com
• Visit the Mary’s Place website to learn more and to make a donation.

SEATTLE, EDMONDS & KENT – In celebration of the iconic restaurant’s 66^th Anniversary, Dick’s Drive-In Restaurants is rolling back the price on burgers to the original 19¢!

Last year’s extremely popular 19¢ day brought almost too many customers out to celebrate all on one day. So, this year Dick’s anniversary celebration will be three days long. Customers can get cheeseburgers and hamburgers at the original 1954 price of 19¢ all day – limit one 19¢ cheeseburger or hamburger per customer present at each scheduled location, but only on each restaurant’s specific day.

19¢ Days and Locations:

Tuesday, January 28^th: Wallingford and Broadway

Wednesday, January 29^th: Lake City, Holman Road and Queen Anne

Thursday, January 30^th: Edmonds and Kent

“We were thrilled at the number of customers who came out to celebrate with us last year,” says Jasmine Donovan, President of Dick’s Drive-Ins and granddaughter of the namesake Dick Spady. “To ensure we are 100% ready to serve every customer who celebrates with us this year with great service, we’re splitting up the 19¢ days.”

Customers can check out the website www.ddir.com, Facebook, Instagram (@dicksdrivein) and Twitter (@dicksdriveins) for the most updated information and stories!

Dick’s Drive-Ins opened its first location in Wallingford in 1954. Started originally by three partners and now fully owned by the decendants of Dick Spady, Dick’s is known for serving fresh-never-frozen burgers, hand-cut fries from real Washington potatoes and hand-dipped and individually whipped milkshakes at low prices and with instant service. The local, family owned restaurant chain is equally well known for offering the best wages and benefits in the industry, including 100% employer paid health insurance, $25,000 college scholarships, childcare assistance and 401K with an employer match.

SEATTLE – Dick’s Drive-In Restaurants and Seattle Boat Co. are announcing today that they are teaming up to bring you a unique Seattle pre-game sail-gating experience!

Boats will be out on the water delivering boxes of the Seattle icon’s classic cheeseburgers to the best decorated sail-gating boats in Husky Harbor prior to kick-off on Saturday, October 19^th.

“Thanks to another great local company, Seattle Boat Co., we have the opportunity to make some great memories with our customers on Saturday,” said Jasmine Donovan, President of Dick’s Drive-In Restaurants. “This is the first time in our 65-year history we can deliver burgers on the water. I’ll personally be out there handing out burgers, so decorate your boat, tag us on social media and we’ll see you.”

“We are excited to be teaming up with Dick’s Drive-In Restaurants to bring the Husky fans the quintessential PNW experience – boating, burgers and college football!” said James Baker, VP of Seattle Boat Co.  “What started out as a small gesture of appreciation to our customers has become a fun partnership of two iconic Seattle brands.  Really, there is nothing better than the look of surprise and excitement on a customer’s face when you are giving away burgers on game day!”

The Facebook event page will have the most up to date details.

Any media interested in joining a burger delivery boat should contact Chelsea Young at [email protected]. Those joining us should be available for departure from the Seattle Boat Co. dock at 10:00AM on Saturday, October 19th.

Dick’s Drive-In is also delivering two burger boxes to a “Lucky Landlubber’s” watch party during the game. For more details see our Facebook event page, twitter and Instagram.

Dick’s Drive-In is not yet selling burger boxes at any location, but hopes to have them available in the future.

South King County – Dick’sDrive-Ins is holding a press conference at their newest restaurant located at 24220 Pacific Hwy South, Kent Washington 98032 at 11:30AM on January 17^th, 2019.

Jasmine Donovan, Executive Vice President and granddaughter of namesake and co-founder Dick Spady, will be answering questions regarding the fact that Sound Transit has identified the new Dick’sDrive-In Restaurant along with the rest of the Midway Shopping Center as one of few potential sites that may ultimately be acquired to build the south Operations and Maintenance Facility.

The Mayor of Kent along with other South Sound Mayors may be in attendance. Attached is a letter that was sent to the Sound Transit Board of Directors on January 11^th, 2019 by Dick’sDrive-Ins.

The Kent City Council yesterday evening passed an ordinance prohibiting transit operations and maintenance facilities on these properties and specifically allow them on the Midway Landfill site to the south.

In accordance with Washington State law, a public hearing must take place within 60 days and is currently scheduled for the Kent city council meeting on February 5^th, 2019. All friends of Dick’sDrive-Ins should put this meeting on their calendars and plan to give your input at the meeting.

0.1.11.2019 Letter to Sound Transit 

Seattle and Edmonds – Now through November 11^th, all RoundUP and Change for Charity donations at Dick’s Drive-In will go to the USO Northwest. Dick’s will match all customer donations up to $5,000 during the week. “For the week leading up to Veterans day, we wanted our crew and our customers to have the opportunity support a great organization serving our local military service members and their families,” said Jasmine Donovan, Executive Vice President and a former US Navy officer. “With our match, we could raise over $10,000 in one week!” Dick’s will also donate directly to their regular charity partners so that no one goes without this week.

The USO Northwest most notably operates the USO center at SeaTac. It is the busiest USO in the entire United States and serves over 750,000 service members and their families throughout the year. The USO Northwest provides support to those who need it the most including military deploying overseas and returning home, military families, wounded warriors and their families and families of the fallen.

Dick’s Drive-Ins will also give free burgers, fries, and sodas in honor of Veterans Day, Friday, Nov. 10^th AND Saturday Nov. 11^th. Any burger on the menu including the famous, quarter-pound Dick’s Deluxe, plus an order of, Dick’s hand-cut fries and a 16-ounce soda will be served free throughout both days at all 6 Dick’s Drive-Ins to any veteran or active military member to honor past and present military service.

“It’s a full-meal thank you,” says Jim Spady, president of Dick’s and son of namesake and co-founder Dick Spady. “Nothing compares to the great sacrifice of our veterans and the level of service expressed by our men and women in uniform. They deserve our recognition and gratitude.”

Beginning at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 10 until closing on Saturday, Nov. 11, all veteran and active duty military members who can show any form of military identification, proof of service or wear their military uniform will receive one free burger, plus fries, and a regular-sized soda at the Wallingford, Broadway, Holman Road, Lake City, Queen Anne, and Edmonds Dick’s Drive-In locations.

Spady added, “My dad, Dick, served in the Navy in World War II and the Air Force during the Korean War. My mom was in the Navy when she met my dad and my daughter served in the Navy. Our family holds a deep respect and admiration for our veterans and service members.”

Click here for photos and videos about the partnership and the free meal give away. Photo credit: Dick’s Drive-In Restaurants.

Join the conversation and fun on Facebook and learn more on our website:
www.Facebook.com/DicksDriveIn
www.DDIR.com

King County – On Wednesday, Jim Spady and Jasmine Donovan of Dick’s Drive-In announced that the new Dick’s Drive-In will be built in the city of Kent.

“All of the south region cities have been very welcoming. It was very difficult to pick just one winner, but we can only build one restaurant at a time,” says Jasmine Donovan, Vice President of Dick’s Drive-In and granddaughter of the co-founder and namesake, Dick Spady.

“The Kent property is in a great location on Highway 99, five miles south of SeaTac Airport. It’s a half mile south of the intersection with the Kent-Des Moines highway and very close to Highline College in Des Moines. We look forward to bringing great food and great first-time jobs to the communities of south King County,” said Jim Spady, President of Dick’s Drive-In and son of Dick Spady.

“We are incredibly excited that Dick’s Drive-In decided to locate its seventh location in Kent,” said Kent Mayor Suzette Cooke. “I so appreciate the can-do attitude by our economic development staff in addressing Dick’s criteria to invest in Kent. It is a tremendous vote of confidence for our community. What a great example of public and private sectors working together to bring an iconic family business for the public to experience and enjoy.”

The final purchase is contingent on obtaining any necessary permits from the City of Kent. “Our meetings with Kent city officials have been very positive. If everything goes well we should be able to close the sale by early 2018, begin construction in the Spring and open the first south location before the end of 2018,” Donovan says.

The new site selection process included an online customer poll that resulted in over 170,000 votes, 100,000 of which came in the first 24 hours. On March 27^th, 2017, the company announced on Facebook Live that the south region had won with 60% of the vote.

The original Dick’s Drive-In location opened in the 1954 on Northeast 45^th street in Wallingford. The most recent restaurant built was the Edmonds location which opened in 2011 after a similar customer poll directed the company to find property to the north of Seattle. The new location in Kent will maintain the original restaurant’s iconic 1950’s look and architecture.

Click HERE for our announcement video and a video of the Thunderbirds’ mascot campaigning for Dick’s Drive-In to open its next location in Kent.

King County – On Monday, Jim Spady and Jasmine Donovan of Dick’s Drive-In announced on Facebook Live that the South region won the new location customer poll with 60% of the vote.

“Congratulations to our fans in the South region! You’ve worked hard to get out the vote and we’re looking to the cities in your region for the perfect new location,” said Jim Spady, President of Dick’s Drive-In Restaurants. “To our fans on the Eastside, we are sorry to make you wait, but we’ll head your way as soon as we’re able.”

Prior to the unveiling, Mr. Spady explained that the Dick’s Drive-In family is committed to growing sustainably and will continue to follow Dick Spady’s business philosophy:

Step 1: Make a profit
Step 2: Invest in your employees
Step 3: Invest in your communities

“We will make sure that every restaurant we open will do all three of those things and do them well,” says Jasmine Donovan, VP at Dick’s Drive-In and granddaughter of the co-founder, Dick Spady.

The overwhelming outpouring of customer enthusiasm for Dick’s Drive-In’s new location is represented in the following numbers:

• 177,645 votes cast in the customer poll
• 4,000+ e-mails suggesting everything from a city preference to a specific address
• 34,000 engagements on social media
• 2 cities, Renton and Redmond, passed formal resolutions inviting Dick’s Drive-In to build in their communities

Anyone who would like to share a specific location in the South region should e-mail [email protected]. Dick’s Drive-In is interested in purchasing a parcel that is approximately one acre in size, close to high schools, colleges, nightlife and busy highways.

 Dick’s Drive-In is known for having the highest wages and benefits in the local fast food industry including offering $25,000 college scholarships for all employees working at least 20 hours a week. Additionally, Dick’s Drive-In has raised over $1.4 million for local homeless charities through customer donations to their Change for Charity and RoundUP for Charity programs.

To stay up to date on all Dick’s Drive-In news, “Like” the official Dick’s Drive-In Facebook page at  facebook.com/dicksdrivein

CONTACT: Jasmine Donovan or Saul Spady:
(206) 321-1045 – Saul Spady; Media Representative
(206) 877-2101 – Jasmine Donovan; Vice-President Dick’s Drive-In

King County – Dick’s Drive-In Restaurants’ new location poll will close at 11:59PM on Friday, March 24th. The winning region will be announced on Monday, March 27^th at 10:30AM in front of the iconic original location in Wallingford and streamed on Facebook Live. Click here for the Facebook event page.

“We are so grateful for the enthusiastic participation of our customers and fans in the region,” says Jim Spady, President of Dick’s Drive-In Restaurants and son of the co-founder Dick Spady. “It will be hard to announce just one winner on Monday and likely harder to pick just one city.”

Both the Redmond and Renton City Councils have passed resolutions formally inviting Dick’s Drive-In to build their seventh location in their cities. “It’s wonderful to see the municipal leadership getting involved in the East versus South debate,” says Jasmine Donovan, Vice President at Dick’s and granddaughter of the Dick Spady. “Our new location will bring great entry level jobs to the community where we build.”

Dick’s Drive-In is known for having the highest wages and benefits in the local fast food industry including offering $25,000 college scholarships for all employees working at least 20 hours a week. For more information on Dick’s wages and benefits go to www.ddir.com/employment.

To vote East or South go to www.ddir.com. Limit 2 votes per email.

To stay up to date on all Dick’s Drive-In news “Like” the official Dick’s Drive-In Facebook page at facebook.com/dicksdrivein

CONTACT: Jasmine Donovan or Saul Spady:

(206) 321-1045 – Saul Spady; Media Representative

(206) 877-2101 – Jasmine Donovan; Vice-President Dick’s Drive-In