The First Location of Seattle Chain Burgermaster Is Closing After 73 Years | Eater Seattle

"The chain’s original University location, opened in 1952, will close at the end of February after 73 years when its landlord terminated the lease to build a new building on the site. The spot began as a drive-in and switched to a dine-in model in the 1970s; unlike the other locations it serves breakfast (a spokesperson said the other locations were drive-in only, but the chain hoped to offer breakfast options soon). The closure, CEO Alex Jensen (grandson of founder Phil Jensen) told the Times, won’t impact the overall business; the company is doing fine and is building out a new dine-in restaurant in Issaquah. Regulars and staff memories give the place its character: “watery coffee we served in glass mugs,” a steady crowd of retiree-aged men who sat at the same table and even had orders punched in as they slowly walked through the door — one always got “a scramble with green peppers, onions, and tomatoes that wasn’t on the menu.” One longtime regular was Roy McCready, father of Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready, who “wasn’t notable because of who his son was, he was notable because he had a kind of charisma all his own,” and who sat at the same table with a little sign that read: “Reserved for Roy.” Once during a summer shift Bill Gates came in with his dad — the Gates family is a huge fan of the chain and in the 1980s, Microsoft had the Bellevue location on speed dial. Locals and a University of Washington professor and regular, Alfred Runte, captured what will be lost: “When you lose something like this, you lose your community.” The land is owned by grocery company Albertsons, which plans to redevelop it into a massive 796-unit, 944,668-square-foot apartment complex; the surrounding crossroads between Bryant, Laurelhurst, and the University District has become denser and more upscale in recent decades, and the longhorn-logo sign that has marked the site for decades will soon be gone." - Harry Cheadle