7 Astounding Yet True Facts about Dick's Drive-In

1) In the beginning, Dick's just sold hamburgers, cheeseburgers, fries, shakes, and ice cream. The Deluxe and the Special are johnny-come-latelies, debuting in 1971. The only other major menu changes? Swapping out orange soda and swapping in Diet Coke.

2) Dick Spady, the gent who put the Dick in Dick's, got the idea when he was a regular at Portland's Carnival restaurant. Now that Carnival's gone, PDX has a dearth of old fashioned burger joints.

3) Shortly after Dick's opened, local cab drivers dubbed it Ricardo's Club 19 because of the 19¢ hamburgers. Local wisenheimers persuaded people to dress up and hit the new nightclub in town, inspiring dates to tell them "You're such a Ricardo." When hamburger prices rose to 22¢, the name followed suit. Today you can visit Ricardo's Club 120.

4) The Queen Anne spot's indoor seating was an experiment that won't be repeated. Since indoor seating requires you to "heat it, clean it, staff it," it's not as profitable as the classic drive-in setup.

5) The Dick's empire never expanded beyond five Seattle locations (in order of their debut: Wallingford, Capitol Hill, Holman Road, Lake City, and Queen Anne). There is a Dick's Hamburgers in Spokane, but it's unrelated--though not everybody realizes that.

6) Dick Spady just has soy milk and three almonds for breakfast and follows the Zone diet. But he still enjoys a burger and shake on "ceremonial eating" occasions, which come up a couple of times a week.

7) Why were there Dick's logos in so many Hump! 2 films? Participants got "extra credit" for including a "Dick's Hamburgers bag, burger, or location shot." Expect a lot of Mars Hill Church in Hump! 4.

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