Not exactly news in the sense that we didn't know it was coming...but, the day of reckoning is finally here. Dick's is serving fries that have been cooked in trans fat-free oil. We decided to take one for the team. We trucked it all the way to Dick's on Broadway for lunch today, just to see if the fries are any worse than the trans fat-cooked fries we had a few weeks ago. Granted,......

We do love us some bar food. French fries, burgers (veggie ones anyway), fish 'n' chips. Man, we could live on that stuff and often think of the Albert Brooks comedy Defending Your Life when we allow ourselves to indulge, because he’s told that, while waiting to defend his life, he can do whatever he wants and not worry about the health consequences. We're pretty sure that’s the reason we're hoping the afterlife mirrors that......

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......

Clinton, of course, would be a Boca-Burger. We all know the drill: you are what you eat. But does who you are also determine your presidential candidates? Are the late-night comedians right? Is Clinton butter to Obama's olive oil? According to a story in today's New York Times McCain's supporters shop at Safeway, Clinton's at Whole Foods, Obama's at farmers markets. (We have the feeling he'd do better in Fremont than Magnolia.) All too easy.......

Instead of focusing on what Belltown has lost, we’d like to inject some positivity in the form of BBQ sauce on an overlooked aspect of this scrutinized neighborhood. ...

Are food safety and food tasty mutually exclusive goals? You have to ask after both Zesto's and Wild Ginger show up on the P-I's list of Seattle's dirtiest restaurants. Zesto's, the venerable burger joint of 15th N.W. and 65th, has the most "red critical" violations of any restaurant in Seattle this year: 15. Frankly, if it takes 15 red critical violations to get the yumminess into their burgers and shakes, we will assume the risk.......

With a Freedom Fries eating contest. Here is the relevant flickr set for last night's contest, evidently won by bicycle hobo associate identified only by the alias "Michael." Here are the rules for the 9/11 Eat Off Commemoration that apparently took place at Red Robin: RULES 1. Vomit: If you vomit, you cannot continue until you re-eat the vomit food. If you refuse to eat your own fry vomit, disqualified. If you do eat your......

There's an article bemoaning our pending loss of Daly's Drive-In in Eastlake in the Post Intelligencer today (with accompanying blog item--probably both inspired by a slightly previous blog item from the Stranger) headlined "Popular drive-in on way out." The thing is, Daly's isn't popular. It should be, and it was, but it isn't. Red Mill Burgers, say, the Phinney location, is popular. There's always a line out the door and it takes forever to......

The Windy City has awakened to the news that Americans love miniburgers. We're glad the food writers at the Chicago Tribune finally noticed. "We like small things," [restaurant owner Jonathan] Segal says. "People, especially females, like the portion size. And burgers pretty much are the all-American sandwich." Especially females? Thank heavens, in Seattle, Cascadia's miniburgers are a unisex treat, even if the price has gone up to $2 per each. Those with fond memories......

As has already been mentioned everywhere else, the wind nearly destroyed Sasquatch on Sunday, taking out the Polyphonic Spree (all 90 of them) on the mainstage, delaying their show till after the Beastie Boys later that night, and delaying other acts who then had to reschedule for other stages. Right before the Polyphonic group had to reschedule (yet another rendition of that one song that enjoyed way too much rotation on KEXP back in......

Except for a four year stint in Chicago our friend Mike has lived in Seattle his entire life. During that time he has come to some well reasoned conclusions about fast food in this city. He shared them with us, and now we will share them with you: Dick's should have a special lane reserved specifically for people who want ice cream, and ice cream should not be available to people who are not in......

When we found that Gorditos was getting out of the lukewarm kitchen that is Queen Anne hill’s restaurant business, we started keeping tabs, via a biweekly stroll, on the eateries closing (and, less frequently, opening) in the neighborhood. That wasn’t often enough. Down went Banjara. Firefly croaked, but from its chrysalis came the more expensive, presumably more flavorful Sorrentino. Pete’s Pizza was shuttered—long live the Calzone King. On last pass, Q’s window still bore a......

"Streetcar gongs ceased their clamor; newsboys cast their unsold papers into the street; from the doors of mill and factory, store and workshop, streamed 65,000 workingmen. School children with fear in their hearts hurried homeward. The life stream of a great city stopped." That's how Mayor Ole Hanson described the beginning of the general strike that was held in Seattle February 1919, one of the few general strikes ever attempted in the U.S. The Bolsheviks......

OPEN MIKE: What can you have in common with John Moe, Charles Frazier, and Jen Marlowe? You, too, can read from your work at Elliott Bay Books. Last Wednesday of the month is always open mike night at Elliott Bay. 7:30pm // Elliott Bay Book Co. [101 S. Main] // free BURGERS: Wednesday always means burgers in Capitol Hill. Take your pick: $5 burgers at the Deluxe, or 2-for-1 burgers at the Satellite. whenever //......

For years we drove by Daly’s Drive-In at 2713 Eastlake Ave East (at Edgar Street) without a thought, but don’t you do the same! The sad news is that come next spring, the lot they’re on, and the one next to it, are slated for demolition. Truth be known, the building they’re in is irreparable, but we have very sadly come to terms with the fact that is highly unlikely that they will stay......

Gulp! As if the world weren't dangerous enough, the latest news from California is particularly disturbing. Seems that lettuce and spinach from the Salinas Valley might be contaminated with the dreaded E. coli O157:H7 bacteria. The last time we saw this, it was undercooked Jack-Inda-Box burgers and improperly pasteurized Odwalla juice. This time the excuse is convoluted: infected cow manure gets into streams that overflow into nearby feedlots and pastures; birds drink the water and......

"So how'd you feel about comping me two of 'em?" Two of the six mini-burgers the dude just scarfed down at Cascadia . Cuz all of a sudden he decides they're "inedible." This after his girlfiend clicked shut her cell and alerted the barkeep the guy was enroute and "starving." Now, before we go off the deep end, these are one dollar bar snacks, the mainstay of Cascadia's happy hour. Barkeep demurs. "Let me know......

Earlier this week kissy couples were wading through roses and red tissue paper deeper than an east coast snow dump and singles shook a tiny, lonely fist (no ring!) at it all. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 - Valentine's season is in the can, finally. Austinist is already pulsing with SX energy and posting on the People's Choice Award nominees and the short films that will be playing while the......

Turns out that a low-fat diet doesn't reduce your risk of getting cancer or heart disease. Thank you, thank you, thank you, medical science. Cheer over your spilled skim milk and then make haste to the following former danger zones: Cave Man Kitchens: Melt-in-your-mouth barbeque that's worth the drive to Kent. This is the very barbeque that the Chicago White Sox ate after clinching the 1983 AL West division crown at the Kingdome, and at......

DO NOT PARK IN THE PARKING LOT AT THE WATERWHEEL LOUNGE!! There, we warned you. If only someone had passed that same information along to us, our evening at the Waterwheel would have been more nearly perfect. The slope which leads from 15th Avenue to the parking lot nearly took out our transmission. The sign has been taunting us for some time. It features both a martini glass and a hamburger, both things we enjoy.......

Seattle is slathered with great local burger chains, what with Dick’s, Kidd Valley, and Red Mill, but our favorite is the mighty Burgermaster -- particularly the one just east of (but worlds away from) upscale University Village. This underrated institution has mastered the burger since it opened as a drive-in in 1953, and later, expanding into an eat-in restaurant. But why no link? The ‘Master is apparently too busy serving up consistently decent, no-frills fare......

On Sunday night we returned to one of our old haunts: the Madrona Eatery and Ale House. When we lived four blocks away from it, we found ourselves here more often than not – the beer, the burgers, the pizza and the beer kept us coming back. Not to mention the easy downhill walk home. For a family-friendly pub of its size, the MEAH has a good number of beers on tap - 15, to......

Seattlest's newest feature enters its second week with this installment, which makes it the most successful new feature launch in recent memory. Make sure to tune in next Tuesday as the drama unfolds: Will Seattle Market actually play three weeks in a row and become the longest running series in the history of Seattlest, or will it peter out after this lackluster performance? You decide. First, the name sucks so if you've got a better......

Oh yes, it's that time again. The time to create fake controversy through a contrived contest that delivers nothing but bragging rights. That's right...it's another burger battle in our quest to find the best damn cheeseburger in Seattle, Mad Cow be damned. Red Mill, who beat the holy bejesus out of the Deluxe, goes up against massive underdog Daly's, who barely beat longtime Seattle fav Dick's Drive-in. Can Daly's defeat the juggernaut known as Red......

Everyone needs comfort food once in a while. Of course "comfort" can mean different things to different people, but for Seattlest it generally means good, simple food that we don't have to cook ourselves. This is why we have our favorite comfort restaurants. In order to qualify, the restaurant not only has to provide the aforementioned good and simple food (at a fair price), but they also have to provide a comfortable and easy......

Seattlest will always have a soft spot in our heart for the bar at Brasa. We love the way the wood fired oven perfumes the air from the moment you step inside. We love the high, lofty ceilings that contrast with the dark wood and dim lighting. We love sitting at the far end of the bar and watching all the action in the kitchen. But mostly, we love the kick-ass happy hour prices on......

Because of a Tuesday night conflict with our 10-week advertising class at the School of Visual Concepts, Seattlest has been forced to skip pub trivia at Fremont's George & Dragon Pub. Fortunately, our usual teammates were willing to branch out and try someplace new on a different night of the week. We ended up playing a few of the Irish Emigrant's Monday-night quizzes in the U District. Similarities? They pretty much end with the......

Today Seattlest was in the mood for American food with a capital 'A'. Nothing fancy. Nothing on the menu that we couldn't pronounce. No fancy twists or "updated classics". No money spent on flash websites, kitschy décor or outrageous views. Just plain and simple burgers, salads, steaks and fries. When Seattlest craves American food we head to Wedgwood Broiler in North Seattle--as stated on their website, "the word cuisine just does not seem to fit......

Seattlest grilled on Beacon Hill Saturday night and we got a real taste of it, not just of the burgers and asparagus but of life under a SeaTac flight path. Not a minute went by without a plane flying overhead. The sound wasn't too bad (especially considering I-5 tootles by at a dull roar at the same time) but we quickly started talking about savants we know who can identify any plane. Our hosts......

Who are the 11:30pm girls? What: The Attic, Alehouse & Eatery When: Wed, 4/20, 9pm There’s nothing better than getting pissed on beer and soaking up the alcohol in your belly with some nice, greasy bar food. The Attic, a 50+ year establishment in Madison Park with 20 different beers on tap, is just the place to do this. Worn-in and comfy, this pub is also the perfect place to watch sports on about a......