West Seattle restaurants: Opening day for Alki Fatburger

The third restaurant on the southwest corner of 61st/Alki since the abrupt Alki Bakery closure three years ago, which also happens to be the first Fatburger in the Seattle city limits, is now open. The franchisees decided over the weekend to open at 11 am today; it wasn’t in the cards when we talked with them last Friday, to set a time this morning to come in and take photos. But as noted in our West Seattle Monday preview (thanks to a reader tip), a sign went up on the door this morning, almost three months after we first reported Fatburger was coming in after the closure of Bada Bistro.

In addition to the Fatburger menu focused on burgers and fries (gluten-free bun available for an extra charge, by the way), this location also is co-locating Buffalo’s – which, you might correctly guess, focuses on wings – and a full bar (the menu posted on the window lists a variety of specialty drinks).

Proprietor Bruce, working fast to get ready to open, told us this morning that this isn’t a “soft open” – this is it. Hours are expected to be 11 am-9 pm for starters. If you’re not familiar with Fatburger – it was founded in Los Angeles in 1952; in Western Washington, it’s had Eastside locations for years, but the Alki location is the first one in Seattle.

Seattle Bloggers October 28, 2013 (11:45 am)

We’ve never eaten at a Fatburger before, so we might have to check this one out. The Buffalo’s part really piqued our interest (we LOVE wings). Thanks for the info!

Susan October 28, 2013 (1:11 pm)

Drive through, too?

WSB October 28, 2013 (1:17 pm)

Nope, there’s no place there for a drivethrough.

Michael October 28, 2013 (1:24 pm)

This place is amazing! Everyone here works so hard and are extremely friendly. The atmosphere is great and the food is even better! This is one of my new favorite spots.

lina October 28, 2013 (2:03 pm)

yum! walk by today, did not realize it was their opening day or else I would have used that as my excuse to go in. Love Fatburger and will go soon!
sidenote – was a fabulous windy morning out on Alki!

Erik October 28, 2013 (2:05 pm)

Just finished lunch and a beer. Amazing burger and great service!

Jack October 28, 2013 (2:13 pm)

Never been to a Fatburger before. Just had lunch there. The staff was very friendly, especially the owner Bruce. The vibe was good too. The burgers and onion rings are great and the bar has a huge selection. This place will do very well if they can stay consistent on the service and quality.

Jack October 28, 2013 (2:19 pm)

PS…
The merlot was delish….oily herbal and black berry fruit flavors with a serious core of tannin for body. Aromas of earth, dried herbs and cherry. On the palate, medium body, lush fruit flavors and balanced acidity with a long finish that has a tingle and a tang. Cheers

Bob Loblaw October 28, 2013 (2:19 pm)

You had me at wings. Really miss Wing Dome, so will give this a shot for sure.

Jordan October 28, 2013 (2:21 pm)

We wanted to go to Fatburger last Thursday night and was disappointed to find they weren’t open yet. Went to Zippy’s instead (also amazing burgers). Will have to hit Fatburger later this week.

wscommuter October 28, 2013 (2:57 pm)

I’m drinking any f*&^%ing merlot!!!

(Jack -thank you for keeping this alive. ’nuff said).

onion October 28, 2013 (2:59 pm)

Seems like a nice place to check out the next time the Seahawks are playing on Monday Night Football. Remind me to look up the schedule….

Pete R. October 28, 2013 (3:11 pm)

I love the city names on the sign, putting Federal Way on the same level as New York, and Issaquah sandwiched between Vega$ and Dubai. Way to add local color.

Glad to see the rave review in the comments too. I liked the Redmond one when I worked over there and am looking forward to eating here regularly.

West Seattle Hipster October 28, 2013 (3:33 pm)

It is always nice to have food options in WS, I have been to the Federal Way and Bellevue Fatburgers and will definitely check this out.

Mark S October 28, 2013 (3:49 pm)

I <3 Pepperdock. Hope they survive this.

Wow October 28, 2013 (5:09 pm)

Drive through?! Did someone actually ask that?

DRW October 28, 2013 (5:13 pm)

Thanks for the post. My husband and I popped over for a nice lunch. One of the owners stopped at our table and we had a nice chat. He mentioned they will have a happy hour. The prices seem reasonable. The food was good and there were quite a few people there.

Chris W October 28, 2013 (5:23 pm)

Um, Onion… I’m guessing you were joking but if not – What are you doing in couple minutes? (Cue Monday Night Football song)

Chris G October 28, 2013 (6:33 pm)

Being from Buffalo, NY, I will have to personally try these Buffalo style wings and share my opinion…soon. The secret Buffalo recipes for wings and other WNY delicacies are safe in my memory having worked at some famous award winning establishments back in Buff. Will they also have “Beef on weck” I wonder?

cj October 29, 2013 (2:34 am)

Awesome on the GF bun! Haven’t had a decent burger in ages.

k October 29, 2013 (11:52 am)

Just grabbed take out. $15.87 for a burger, onion rings and a shake. Onion rings were cold, bun was hard and burger overcooked. Heard the manager having a small meltdown as the team was not ringing things correctly and the POS was “acting up”. Not like the Fatburger’s I remember in LA.

sc October 29, 2013 (2:07 pm)

Just got back from lunch there with my husband. Caught the Metro #50 on California and the last stop is right in front of Fatburger.
Had a little mix up on my burger but they redid it with a smile. Staff was very attentive. Onion rings were wonderful (freshly made every morning) and burger was great! We will definitely be back.

And with the bus you don’t have to mess with finding parking on a sunny day :)

Curtis October 29, 2013 (3:20 pm)

I can tell you right now, after one lunch, the place has a serious, serious problem – it’s just way the heck too small for a sunny spring Saturday. Perfect for an Autumn Tuesday, but yeah, it’s too small. I hope the Fatburger team has some sort of plans to help pick up Fatbuger wrappers off the beach.

pjmanley October 29, 2013 (4:30 pm)

Really @Curtis? Shouldn’t people be held responsible for their own garbage? It’s not Fatburger who can’t use a garbage can. Damn Litterbugs to Hell! (In the best C. Heston impression I can muster!)

Gina October 29, 2013 (6:48 pm)

Picked up some takeout today. Chicken Caesar wrap is good! But if you get onion rings, eat them first. They are real rings, and as with real fries, saving them for last does them no favors.

admiral October 29, 2013 (8:28 pm)

Had lunch today. Service, food, and ambiance are great. I’ll be back often.

Sadly in search of burger October 29, 2013 (9:04 pm)

Attempted to do carry out order today half an hour before closing and staff refused to do carry out. Very sad and disappointing as they introduce themselves to the neighborhood. Half an hour should be enough time to cook a burger and make a shake.

Sam October 30, 2013 (6:07 pm)

Went last night, took a long time to get wings ( which were very good). Took longer for burgers to come out and one was totally wrong the other was missing items and didn’t have the condiments that we wanted. While sitting there 2 other people didn’!t get food at same time as the other person or the order was wrong. Today went in to get an order to go and was told no (just saw someone walk out with a to go order) WOW. I know it may take a couple of weeks to get the kinks out but WOW. We will give it another go. But I don’t think they were ready for a busy opening. Good luck. Sam
,

gina October 31, 2013 (6:33 am)

More of a Red Robin type place than Kidd Valley. To go orders not the focus. Large televisions with sports. I thought the food was better than Red Robin, but won’t be getting it to go again. On a rainy day it will be just right.

KT October 31, 2013 (11:56 am)

Seems more like a sports pub (table service, menus…) than the Fatburger I am used to. Just don’t see how this will work in the summer. Tried the wings – very good flavor but real small. Burger excellent though bun dry.

Anita November 2, 2013 (6:48 pm)

Sooo excited for Fatburger. Ordered to go for family 1 1/2 hours after they opened. Went back this evening to get order to go for family and was told they are not doing takeout tonight. WHAT? I thought this was Fatburger. Even though it is my favorite burger, I will not be back. The focus of this business is something other than Fatburger.

Burger Lover November 2, 2013 (8:46 pm)

Love me some FatBurger! So exicted it’s in WS :)

Christen November 3, 2013 (10:24 am)

6:45pm My roommate and I decided to give Fatburger a chance. We both had never been before. I must say I was very disappointed in the service. The waitress was sweet and attentive at first. You could tell she was very busy and perhaps loosing her voice. She gave us plenty of time to look over the menu, which we were grateful for. We placed our orders and made it know that we would have an order to go, she said she would check back for it after we got our meal. okay fine. 7:35 we get our food. Blues Burger and a California burger. We asked for 10 boneless hot wings. We got 6 bone-in wings. We asked to get what we originally ordered. She got all huffy and said she didn’t understand the difference. Really? One, there was a price difference, 6 bone-in wings were the same price as the 10 boneless. Two, did you really just ask me that? 8:20 we are clearly done with our meal and still haven’t got our wings. Haven’t seen our waitress and our waters have been empty the whole time. Then, a manager, I assume came over to our table to clear our plates. Didn’t even say anything. My roommate kindly asked her for more water and 10 minutes later we got some from our waitress. She brought our wings out. They were lukewarm. Disappointing. We reminded her that we still wanted a to-go order. She said, “Well its a really long wait now, I still haven’t even been to two of my tables!” We said, ” we will wait.” 9:25 pm We get our to-go order and our check. No interaction for the waitress at all. I work in customer service, I would have been fired on the spot if I treated a customer like that. Very disappointed to say the least. I love how the employee messes something up and you get poor service for it and you still have to pay for it. We will be spending our $ at Pepperdocks. No questions asked!

Tresa November 3, 2013 (12:47 pm)

On the 2nd day they were open I stopped in at 7:35pm and requested to place a take out order and was told” we’re not doing take-out tonight. Last night around 8 I made the same request, and got the same answer. I walked back home, but was still craving a burger. I called the Bamboo and they happily took my to go order and 10 minutes later I waked over and picked up my favorite, a hefty fire grilled mushroom swiss burger and fries. I must say it was delish and hit the spot. There are 4 other places on Alki to get a good burger: Dukes, Pepperdock, Celtic Swell and the Bamboo Bar. And they all do orders to go. Fatburger doesn’t even publish a phone number for the Alki location. I’m not wasting any more time walking over there, not knowing whether I can get a seat, or at least get my order to go. I will stick with what I know is good.

JIM November 3, 2013 (1:02 pm)

NO TO GO ORDERS? WHAT! ITS A BURGER JOINT!JUST DROVE FROM GATEWOOD FOR A TO GO ORDER FOR FAMILY OF 4!WE DON’T DO THAT ANYMORE! NOT TOO SMART!

Bruce November 4, 2013 (12:46 am)

I want to introduce myself, my name is Bruce and I am a partner in the West Seattle Fatburger along with my long time very good friend Bob. We both have spent our entire lives in Seattle and have raised our families here.

We have been open now for one week and we have appreciated all that have come in to give us a try. We still have some bugs to work out but overall the feedback has been positive and we are working to get better.

Regarding long waits or getting the wrong items there really is not excuse for that and we are working hard to correct the issues. I can assure you it is our intent that everyone coming in has a fun, positive experience. We know everyone has many options on where to eat and spend their time and money and we do not take lightly that anyone coming in is giving us a chance to earn their business. We will be doing further training with our staff to correct the errors and delay in your meals.

Regarding take out orders, that is a larger problem. The kitchen is very small and during the first couple of days we were doing take out but our ticket times became very long for both the take out orders and for the dine in guests also. The grill and fryers are not enough to accommodate both dine in and take out and the kitchen is very small so adding equipment is not possible. We will be looking into how to solve this in the near future as we understand take out is an important and expected part of the business. As soon as we know we can handle to go orders and deliver in a timely manner we will do so, but to offer something that we cannot do well is not good for anyone.

My sincere apologies to all that we have disappointed either by not being able to offer to go orders or those that had a less then positive experience in the restaurant.

I understand this blog is a source if information and discussion for members of the community and I will not try to use this forum as a means of advertising as it seems that is not it’s purpose. I hope to be able to occasionally be able to answer questions or concerns here. I respect and admire the friends we have met in West Seattle and hope to meet many more in the future.

Sincerely
Bruce
Fatburger

drb November 4, 2013 (7:54 am)

Went there last night and ordered the bacon and egg sandwich and specifically asked the egg to be runny and not hard which they said was fine. Got my sandwich and the egg was hard as a rock asked for it to be returned and done right and they refused..saying sometimes it just turns out that way.
Great way to introduce yourself to the neighborhood.
Needless to say I won’t be back and won’t be recommending the place to friends and family. You would be amazed at the number of friends and family I introduced to Marination…and they introduced people etc…word of mouth folks…and Fat burger looses in my book.

WSRollerGirl November 4, 2013 (1:01 pm)

Psyched to have Fatburger in Seattle finally, and on Alki beach no less! I have been in twice since they opened a week ago (no shame) and I am surprised to see negative feedback on here because our experiences have both been very positive. Once was for lunch and once was for dinner and even though they were packed both times, our servers (Madeline and Maria) were friendly and attentive and the food was well worth the wait–we never had to wait more than 10 minutes and we saw how busy they were so we were prepared to wait even longer if we had to. As someone who has worked in the service industry myself for many years, I encourage you to give these guys a break while they work out the kinks–they’ve only been open for a week! Opening a restaurant is not easy but they have a very good service team (at least the gals who served us) and a good concept so I have very high hopes for them. I think Fatburger is an awesome addition to the Alki strip and that they’ll do well. I love that they have the full fleshed-out menu and a full bar too, and I actually prefer the sit-down style over counter take-out ordering anyway. Take-out would be awesome once they figure out how to make it practical, but you gotta cut em a little slack in these early weeks…they’re really slammed. Keep up the good work guys, I’ll probably be back twice again next week :)

Erick November 4, 2013 (1:14 pm)

I had a great experience. Took my son here for the seahawks game and lunch yesterday and even though our waitress was swamped she checked in on us often and did her best to keep us happy while we waited for lunch. Longer than average wait for our food, but prob just because they were so busy. The burgers and wings were excellent and the onion rings were the best I’ve had in recent memory. Big selection behind the bar too. Really happy to have fatburger in town, I hope they do well and stick around.

JIM November 5, 2013 (1:09 pm)

NICE TRY BRUCE,ZIPPYS HAS A SMALLER KITCHEN THAN YOU AS DOES BAMBOO…YOU WANT PEOPLE TO SIT AND DRINK…ITS WHERE THE BIG MONEY IS! BE HONEST.ITS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE YOU WILL BE HANDING OUT COUPONS AND CUTTING BACK EMPLOYEES HOURS. TWICE I HAVE COME IN FOR A ORDER TO GO AND WAS TOLD NO,THERE WAS NO MORE THAN 2 OTHERS IN YOUR “BURGER JOINT” DON’T TRY TO MAKE IT WHAT ITS NOT.

Alkirunner November 5, 2013 (9:58 pm)

Jim, I actually can see where Bruce is coming from here. I’ve seen the size of that kitchen and he’s right–to try to accommodate heavy to-go orders in addition to the sit-down orders would be too crazy. I think they’re smart to stick to sit-down for now and re-introduce to-go orders in the future if they can figure out a way to make that work. Sure we’d all love to be able to take fatburger to go like at their other locations, but I think the trade off here is that we have a great burger joint/bar that is more than just “fast food” down on the boardwalk. Luckily they’ve got quite some time before what is sure to be a very busy summer season, so maybe by then we’ll see some takeout options! Fingers crossed. If not, I’ll still be a loyal fan–their food is really good!!!