Happy Fourth of July from Seattlest
Seattlest Pix: 09Jul04
Seattlest Pix: 09Jul05
Seattle Int'l Beer Festival Ends at 7 p.m.
A coupon in the mail recently lured us back to the Federal Way Black Angus, a family favorite from our ‘70s youth. We loved the dimly lit steakhouse’s smoked-glass walls, intimate booths, and boxy steer logo. It seemed slightly mysterious yet classy, and dining there was always a treat.
Unfortunately, we found the eatery had been thoroughly renovated since our last, decades-ago visit. Now the much-brighter interior resembles the inside of a stable, with Brokeback-esque photos on its walls and in the colorful laminated menus. With omnipresent TVs tuned to ESPN, it feels like just another casual dining chain restaurant. Granted, the prime rib is still killer, even if the place offers no sense of its history.
Stuart Anderson grew up in Seattle’s exclusive Broadmoor, earned a Dartmouth business degree, and opened his first Black Angus on Elliott in 1964 (it has since closed). In 1966, he bought a big cattle ranch 100 miles east of Seattle, highly visible from I-90 (its “party barn” hosted tour groups). Anderson also began cultivating a rugged, mustachioed cowboy image, appearing in ads in his trademark Stetson. The businessman-cum-cattleman became a local celebrity, a sort of Marlboro Man of meat.
Some corporation bought Anderson’s 12-restaurant chain in 1972, retaining him as its boss and spokesman. In 1986, after expanding to 121 locations in 18 states, Black Angus was sold to Marriott, who within months sold it to some other corporation. The new owners mostly phased out the steer logo, replacing it with a cowpoke crouching over a campfire. They also phased out Anderson himself, who auctioned off his 2,400-acre ranch the following year. Now the California-based chain has just 88 locations in ten states (nine in Washington). Anderson still lives in Eastern Washington and is still seen on TV, albeit hawking the Senior Housing Assistance Group. Ever image-conscious, he’s never disclosed his age, though he appears more than eligible for SHAG residency.
Come to think of it, Anderson shares a lot with Les Schwab -- both are iconic, cowboy hat-wearing Northwest entrepreneurs who built successful chains named after themselves, starred in their own ads, and penned autobiographies. (The 9-cent eBay price on Anderson's Here’s the Beef! My Story of Beef convinced us to “Buy It Now.”)
However, though you can currently get free beef with a tire purchase at Les Schwab, you can't get free tires with a beef purchase at Black Angus. We tried.
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