Zippy’s Giant Burgers expanding, adding second location

(Added: Future Georgetown location of second Zippy’s; WSB photo by Katie Meyer)
In its seventh year, Zippy’s Giant Burgers is expanding to add a location. No, it’s not in West Seattle, but it’s not far. Zippy’s proprietor Blaine Cook didn’t mention the location when he announced the expansion plan on Facebook this morning (thanks to Bianca for the tip on that!) but he tells WSB it’s in Georgetown, at the American Pie Company location, 5633 Airport Way South. Zippy’s celebrated its sixth anniversary this past May; it opened in a tiny Highland Park spot in 2008, became massively popular almost instantly, and then moved to a much-larger space in White Center in 2011. Blaine says they’re getting the keys to the new location on Labor Day (Zippy’s #1 will be closed that day).

Trickycoolj August 27, 2014 (12:01 pm)

Yessssss! This is closer to work than the White Center location is to home! And with the loss of Katsu Burger down here they’ll get business quick!

miws August 27, 2014 (12:27 pm)

Congrats to Zippy’s for being successful enough to be able to expand!

And, congrats to Georgetown!

Mike

datamuse August 27, 2014 (12:45 pm)

Katsu Burger is gone? Oh, that’s too bad. I liked that place.
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Great news for Zippy’s, though!

onion August 27, 2014 (12:52 pm)

Great news about Zippys. But what happened to Katsu Burger?

Gina August 27, 2014 (1:33 pm)

Will be fun to combine with a trip to Fantagraphics.

Fan girl August 27, 2014 (1:42 pm)

Good job Zippys! I love it when the little guy is a success! CONGRATS!

biankat August 27, 2014 (2:06 pm)

Woot! Very sad about Katsu :( But with Zip’s here and Loretta’s in South Park it’ll a burger destination area!

biankat August 27, 2014 (2:08 pm)

Katsu suddenly closed, unfortunately. Here’s their FB post on August 11:

We are sorry to inform everyone that Katsu Burger is now closed.

Katsu Burger began with the idea of combining Japanese and American cuisines in a new and accessible way. Great recipes were crafted, with exceptional ingredients as the foundation for burgers we would be proud to serve. From the start, our goal was to delight every customer.

We have been fortunate to employ some fantastic people, but not as many as needed to maintain a consistent quality of food and service. If we cannot guarantee you a great experience, the honorable thing to do is to step down. Rather than lowering our standards, we have decided to close our doors.

Thank you for an awesome three years! We hope you will continue to try new things!

Anyone who may be interested in taking over the restaurant should email us through the contact form on our site. It’s a great space, perfect for a variety of concepts. Although it would be fabulous if the right owner/operator wanted to start their own Katsu Burger adventure…

trickycoolj August 27, 2014 (3:57 pm)

Yeah Katsu was a pretty abrupt surprise for most of us that work down the street. It’s well loved in my office and with friends who work in the area. I can see where it was probably difficult to get business in the non-lunch hours given the location. Here’s hoping lots of success to Zippy’s they’re going to be right on the row of solid and busy restaurants in Georgetown!

Kp August 27, 2014 (4:06 pm)

Love Zippy’s close to work but American Pie is great! Hope AP will open someplace else or at least cater.

kurly212 August 27, 2014 (4:10 pm)

I guess I’ll have to add Katsu Burger to the list (with La Romanza) of recently closed restaurants I meant to try but never got around to it. :-/ I’m happy for Zippy’s, though.

Joe Szilagyi August 27, 2014 (4:11 pm)

@Gina Fantagraphics and Zippy’s sounds like a fantastic combination. Yum yum etc.

Beepsskee August 27, 2014 (5:15 pm)

Yum yum yum yum!

JayDee August 27, 2014 (5:51 pm)

American Pie, despite the cool name had an odd business model–only open during the week (at least when my sister started shopping there) and when they ran out of pie they ran out…even at 11 AM (on the occasion I was there during the day) imagine ShooFly pies with two pies, and that’s it. Kinda of disincentive to make a special trip (which you did since they were closed on the weekends). The pies that were there were good according to my sisters family.

Welcome Zippys — My younger colleagues in the field will be frequent customers.

Hamburger ICU August 27, 2014 (5:56 pm)

Awesome!!! I had a chance to visit Zippy’s a couple of months back and I immediately knew that this place was super dangerous for me because their hamburgers are sooooo delicious! I would eat them everyday if I had no willpower. lol I’m glad to see that the former frontman for The Accused is kicking butt at making some of the best burgers on the West Coast hands down. Keep up the awesome job Blaine and company. Old school Seattle splattercore and great homemade burgers = heaven for this rat! BTW, dig the Toetag CD too! :D

burgereater August 27, 2014 (6:28 pm)

zippy’s is fantastic, but they’ll have some competition on airport ave – star brassworks has a great cheap burger, and jules may’s is damn decent as well.

rumor blippin' August 27, 2014 (9:25 pm)

Speaking of jules may, has anybody ever gotten confirmation that jules may is moving into Papa’s on 16th Ave in WC? I heard that a long time ago and see nothing different there from the outside. Fact or rumor, WSB?

WSB August 27, 2014 (9:31 pm)

There was a liquor license application posted there months back, can’t even recall the name that was on it, it’s been so long. Last time we looked, hadn’t seen any change in its windows-papered-over status. – TR

Alex August 27, 2014 (9:48 pm)

Wtf! We need a west Seattle location! I’m tired of driving so far that my fries get cold on the way home!

B-Check August 27, 2014 (10:13 pm)

I agree with Alex – excited to hear about Zippy’s second location. But dang, I wish we had a good burger place nearer the Junction, or anywhere along California. (Yes, I know there are places to get good burgers, but I mean a burger-centric take out joint like Zippy’s or Lil Woody’s in Capitol Hill/Ballard).

biankat August 27, 2014 (11:06 pm)

Thanks for reminding me, burgereater. Star Brassworks is owned by the same people as Loretta’s. Same burger. So it’s definitely delicious :)

miws August 28, 2014 (7:49 am)

*Gloats to be living within walking distance of WC Zippy’s*

;-)

Mike

Michael French August 28, 2014 (2:46 pm)

Will the new Zippys feature rude hipsters and slow service like the current one?

Jessica August 30, 2014 (8:00 pm)

This is a long awaited awesome announcement! Can’t wait! Now that my fave Katsu closed I had no reason to head to Georgetown, now I finally do!

dawsonct September 1, 2014 (9:20 am)

Great to hear about Zippy’s expanding but greatly tempered by the news Katsu Burger closed. If you never had one, or the pork loin burger, you did yourselves a disservice.
Maybe if they had opened their restaurant in a location that was accessible by something other than a car (i.e. in a neighborhood).

dawsonct September 1, 2014 (9:25 am)

Burgermaster, WITH car-hop service, to West Seattle!
Please?
How about in the Triangle along Fauntleroy?

miws September 4, 2014 (9:21 pm)

Will the new Zippys feature rude hipsters and slow service like the current one?

—–Michael French
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It’s been long well known that Zippy’s takes a little longer, because it’s made to order. They even address it in the FAQ on their website:

http://zippysgiantburgers.com/faq/

It ain’t fast food, it’s quality food. I don’t sit there and stare at my watch, timing them, but anytime it seems like it’s taking awhile, I attribute it to my being excited for a tasty Big Mouth Burger; no cheese, or Pork Tenderloin Sandwich. And really, it isn’t that long at all.

Also, I have never been treated rudely there. Everyone I’ve dealt with has been pleasant, and seem happy to work there.

I was there this afternoon, and got a long awaited Zippy’s craving fulfilled; Pork Tenderloin Sandwich, fries, and a bottle of Zippy’s Root Beer!

YUM….YUM….YUM….YUM….YUM!

Mike

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