Zippy’s Burgers update: Menu online now; short Sunday

Joan sent that photo after arriving at the new Zippy’s Giant Burgers (16th/Holden) at mid-afternoon Sunday — its fourth day in business — only to find it closed because supplies ran low as demand ran high. (Somehow we’re not surprised, given myriad previous discussions here on WSB about how West Seattle was in dire need of a decent burger joint!) There’s a lively discussion under way in the WSB Forums, with posts from folks who also showed up this afternoon and talked to the owners, plus Ken‘s suggestions (from experience) on what it takes to run a restaurant in the early weeks. Meantime, a commenter on our opening-day Zippy’s report points out that the menu (with prices) is now posted on the restaurant’s MySpace site.

Rahel May 6, 2008 (6:35 am)

Compost..Is any one interested in collecting our comppostable food stuffs from Zippy’s?

Rahel May 6, 2008 (9:47 am)

Thanks all for the raves! We certainly were blown away, to say the least about the turn out!
Here are the stats:
Thursday = 55 lbs of beef, gone by 6 pm!
Friday = 66 lbs of beef, gone by 7 pm!
Saturday = 88 lbs of beef, gone by 8:30 pm!

We finally ran out of buns on Sunday and that’s what kept us from opening. We got a big delivery of buns on Monday, but yet again, we sold out by 8pm!

Ken, thanks for your post about what it takes to keep things running. Unfortunately, thanks to our friends at the King County Health Department, we’re unable to change the current layout of the kitchen. Seems they want a LOT more money if you “remodel”. When I say a LOT, I mean, more than we were willing to spend.

As for shakes and floats, those ideas have been tossed around, for sure! We have the mechanical set up for them, but again, its’ all about the $$. We’re just a couple of little ol local Wesseattelites trying to start a business doing something we love, without breaking the bank. My hope is that we can have them in the near future!

Thank you all for showing up and supporting your local Burger business. Keep on coming and don’t be afraid to tell us what you like or don’t like!

Here comes day 5!

ps. We’ll be closed on Mother’s Day as we all have mothers and I’m one, too. We’d like to celebrate all moms! :)

rockergirl May 6, 2008 (11:14 am)

Rahel – I believe you can sign up for composting food scraps through the city – see links below. Check with them about the system they have setup for commercial businesses. Thanks for being enviromentally aware – hope your food packaging is as well.

http://www.seattle.gov/util/Services/Recycling/Recycle_at_Your_Business/COMMERCIAL_200312020811284.asp

http://www.rabanco.com/collection/seattle/commercial/commercial_yard_debris.aspx

Rahel May 6, 2008 (12:46 pm)

Thanks, Rockergirl!
We’re doing what we can packaging-wise. Our hope is that we can provide more biodegradable items once we get our feet firmly planted. We are set on never using styrofoam!

I can tell you that all of the canola oil from the deep fryer is used for making biodiesel.

Thanks so much for the links! I’ve already contacted them both and am waiting for information back.

rockergirl May 6, 2008 (5:02 pm)

Awesome Rahel – great to hear about the oil and no styrofoam. Paper products such as hamburger wrappers, paper cups and fry trays with no foil can go in the “yard waste” with compostable items as they biodegrade I believe. Good job and much sucess! Happy Mom’s day too!

jmland May 14, 2008 (10:43 am)

great to see that you’re being proactive with the composting, oil recycling and no styrofoam. now if you can offer all grass-fed beef (or better yet, include BISON on the menu), you’ve got a customer for life!

i just tried your burgers for the first time last night. the service was a bit slow, but reading these stories i can see that it’s just growing pains. hang in there! the burger was fantastic!

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