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Dick’s Drive-In going back to 1954 prices for its anniversary week

Dick's Drive In Dick's Drive-In first opened in 1954. It now has seven locations: Wallingford, Broadway, Holman Road, Lake City, Queen Anne, Edmonds and Kent. (Casey McNerthney (left)/Seattle Municipal Archives (right))

Dick’s Drive-In is rolling cheeseburger and hamburger prices back to 19 cents this week to celebrate its 66th anniversary.

The first Dick’s Drive-In opened Jan. 28th, 1954 in Seattle’s Wallingford neighborhood at 111 N.E. 45th Street. Burgers were 19 cents, fries 11 cents and shakes were 21 cents. Today the company has seven locations: Wallingford, Broadway, Holman Road, Lake City, Queen Anne, Edmonds and Kent.

The 19-cent burgers will be available at Broadway and Wallingford on Tuesday, January 28; at Lake City, Holman Road and Queen Anne on Wednesday, January 29; and the Edmonds and Kent locations on Thursday, January 30. There’s a limit to one 19 cent cheeseburger or hamburger per customer at each location on the specific days.

Other menu items will be regular price.

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

The Kent location opened in 2018 after a customer poll, similar to the Edmonds location that opened in 2011.

The Broadway store opened in 1955, then Holman Road in 1960, Lake City in 1963, and Queen Anne – the only indoor location -- in 1974. For a short time there also was a restaurant near Bellevue Square, which opened in 1965.

When the Edmonds location was announced in 2010 -- on Dick Spady’s 87th birthday -- the online survey gained more than 115,000 votes. That was the first new Dick’s Drive-In location since the Queen Anne restaurant opened 37 years earlier. In 2015, Dick’s was ranked No. 13 on a list of best U.S. cheeseburgers by The Daily Meal.

Spady died in January 2016 at age 92.

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