Kelly's

Does anyone who's been in Seattle a really long time remember Kelly's French Dip in Montlake? Cafe Lago occupies its space now, or at least it was right around that part of 24th Ave E. My grandpa used to take my mom and I there every Wednesday for lunch when I was 4-5 years old. It was one of his favorite spots, and he and Kelly were buddies. Kelly was not only the owner but the roast beef chef in the back. He was a big man with glasses, as I recall, and that summed up my grandpa pretty well too.

What about Herfy's? It's probably well-known enough to be a Seattle food icon of yesteryear. We used to go to the one in the U. District on 50th, where my parents would order my plain hamburger, nothing on it please. The last real Herfy's I was aware of was in Bellingham, and I'm not sure it's still there. There's still a Herfy's in Georgetown, but it doesn't look anything like the old burger joints. Guess I'll have to go try it to find out.

We also used to frequent Shakey's Pizza on the Ave on Friday nights. It had a cool loft seating area, and video games that we liked to watch but weren't allowed to play. It seemed like it took ages for the pizza to get done, and meanwhile my mom would keep reminding me to drink my root beer slowly so I would have some for when the pizza came. I don't think any Shakey's exist anymore.

My first boyfriend and I used to get fish and chips at the stand outside of Ivar's Salmon House. The Salmon House is pretty much a Seattle institution, so it hasn't gone anywhere. Will need to revisit that food memory sometime soon.

The worst Seattle food memory is of Dag's Beefy Boys, which I renamed Dag's Barfy Boys. I only remember going there once, to the one on Aurora by Seattle Center, and I think they were having a power outage or something because the place was freezing and my burger tasted...well, barfy. Don't think we ever went back there, and now, ho-ho, it's gone.

Here's a nice Seattle eats article from 1999, when every newspaper was documenting everything about the 20th Century.