King County – Dick’s is ready to open its first ever drive-in south of Seattle, after the “south” region won the customer vote for its 7th restaurant. The grand opening festivities begin at 10:00 AM this Wednesday, December 12th.
Join the celebration including: high school bands, bag pipes, ribbon cutting, a pop-up swag store and more. Kent Mayor Dana Ralph, King County Council members Von Reichbauer, Upthegrove, Dembowski, Coolbird (the Seattle Thunderbirds’ mascot), Highline College President Dr. John Mosby, and of course the 12 winners of Dick’s Orange Ticket contest will help us cut the ribbon to open the new restaurant!
“We’re so excited to open!” says Jasmine Donovan, Executive Vice President of Dick’s Drive-In and granddaughter of its co-founder and namesake, Dick Spady. “For our fans in south King County we know it’s been a long wait and we thank you for your patience. We also want to thank everyone at the City of Kent for all of their hard work in helping us reach this milestone, as well as our fantastic construction team.”
The ceremony includes performances by the Thomas Jefferson High School and Kennedy Catholic High School bands and the King County Firefighters Pipes and Drums.
“We know from the enthusiasm on social media that many of our customers are excited to join the celebration,” says Donovan. In addition to the bands, VIP’s, and inaugural burgers, fries and shakes, the event will include the Agitator Hydroplane and crew from nearby Steve Huff motorsports, a Dick’s pop-up apparel store, artist Jen Clement creating Orange Ticket replicas for sale, and music by Meglados Music.
To ensure that everyone will have a chance to enjoy a burger, fry and shake during the opening days, order quantities will be limited per customer. Please check information at the store daily.
When Dick’s announced in March 2017 that they wanted to open a 7th location, once again they asked their fans to decide where to build it. The online customer poll resulted in over 170,000 votes. On March 27th, 2017, the company announced the south region had won with 60% of the vote. On April 3rd, 2018, a groundbreaking ceremony was held to officially begin construction of the new restaurant.
The original Dick’s Drive-In location opened in January 1954 on NE 45th street in Wallingford. The new restaurant will open on Wednesday, December 12, 2018 serving south King County and everyone traveling past the Kent-Des Moines exit on I-5 and nearby Highway 99.
Dick’s new Kent restaurant is located at 24220 Pacific Highway South, about 5 miles south of SeaTac airport and close to Highline College. The crew of the new Dick’s Drive-In includes many local students, who have been training at Seattle locations since May, as well as some veteran employees who are lending a hand during the opening weeks.