Home › Forums › West Seattle Rants & Raves › Rave – Zippy Burgers
- This topic has 77 replies, 46 voices, and was last updated 15 years, 2 months ago by mrhineh.
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May 3, 2008 at 4:33 am #586883
karenParticipantWow! We tried Zippy Burgers tonight and it was fantastic!! The young children ate everything – even the onion rings. The teenage boy declared that he was full. The adults loved that the burgers and chicken tasted like burgers and chicken! The prices are really reasonable, barely more than McBlah and way better! One request, though, a big ice cream milkshake!
Seriously, if you haven’t tried them yet, go do it!!
May 3, 2008 at 4:48 am #623606
WSBKeymasterThe Zippy’s saga is my favorite story from among the dozens we covered this week.
https://westseattleblog.com/blog/?p=7227
Especially what emerged in comments and in an e-mail we received after the “opening day” post – the fact that the owner was a well-known punk rocker back in the day.
(Not to mention the fact that WSB readers apparently swarmed the store!)
We usually google people involved in stories as we’re writing them, to be sure we don’t miss interesting factoids like that, but I guess the missing link here was that we didn’t know previously that “Zippy” was his rocker nickname! — TR
May 3, 2008 at 5:06 am #623607
AimParticipantWe couldn’t get in the door tonight due to the crowds, nor could we park nearby due to multiple a$$clown parking jobs. But we’ll definitely try again!
May 3, 2008 at 5:31 am #623608
JackMemberWe were sadly turned away from Zippy yesterday. They were so successful they ran out of food before we arrived. We tried again today. We were the lucky LAST people served tonight and it was worth going back, 100%. REAL onion rings, great burgers, chicken was tender and moist. Two thumbs up for Zippy Burgers!!! We want a milkshake to go with it!! (A MALTED milkshake would make Zippy PERFECT) I think Zippy is here to stay.
May 3, 2008 at 5:56 am #623609
celeste17ParticipantHamburgers and Milkshakes what a great combo. Hopefully Zippy’s will read all the comments here on WSB and add milkshakes. If they can’t do it maybe one of the WSB readers will open an ice cream shop near by and sell milkshakes and ice cream to go with the Rootbeer they serve. Can’t wait to go and try them.
May 3, 2008 at 8:10 pm #623610
SueParticipantI just got back from there – great burger and onion rings at a really reasonable price – bacon cheeseburger w/onion rings for $7! The place is clean and the owners and workers are so friendly and nice. I heard them talking about how they ground 50 pounds of beef the first day and ran out, then they did 75 yesterday and ran out by 7pm, so today they decided to try 88 pounds of beef and see how it goes.
The only thing I would change about the burger is the lettuce – to either shred it more, or make it more “leafy” – it was a bit clumpy and then ended up making the bun tear, so it was messy. Didn’t stop me from eating it all though – LOL!
May 3, 2008 at 10:03 pm #623611
JanSParticipantnow I have to go…salivating here…hehe (sorry JT)
May 4, 2008 at 3:05 am #623612
BonnieParticipantCan’t wait to try it!
May 4, 2008 at 4:54 am #623613
celeste17ParticipantI tried it today and all I can say is wow. I will gladly be going back there soon. Hopefully next time there will be a table open and I can enjoy it there while it is hot rather then in my car while I am driving to Trader Joe’s in Burien. Maybe we can sneak in some ice cream and buy a root beer and make a root beer float. (Of course will have to bring a glass, a straw and a spoon) LOL!!!
May 4, 2008 at 9:52 pm #623614
elgregoMemberWent by at 2 today and they were closing because they were sold out. :( Gonna have to go back soon.
May 4, 2008 at 11:09 pm #623615
JanSParticipantthey must be ecstatic at the reception they’ve gotten…now they have to plan better. Elgrego, I’m sorry that you missed out…but nice to know that when you DO get served it’ll be yummy good :)
May 4, 2008 at 11:33 pm #623616
BonnieParticipantI can’t wait to give them a try!
May 5, 2008 at 2:36 am #623617
SueParticipantI just hope that all the people (myself included) that helped them sell out the first few days actually go back again. I’d hate for them to start planning for banner sales, only to have people lose interest and not show up.
May 5, 2008 at 2:45 am #623618
AimParticipantSue, even if a few don’t go back, there are those of us who still haven’t been. We’ve tried 3 days in a row, progressively earlier in the day each day. Today (Sunday) we arrived about 1:30 only to find the place darkened and a sign on the door that they were sold out. We were very disappointed. We’ll have to try again next weekend.
May 5, 2008 at 3:24 am #623619
KenParticipantI used to design deli’s and small restaurants in another life. Before that I was on an opening crew for a multi state pizza hut franchise.
We would come into some town in the south, large or small, and inspect the building. If the bowling balls rolled to the drains and the HVAC and power systems tested good, the company signed off and took possession from the builder. We unloaded the truck and built the restaurant and all its equipment in one 24 hour shift. The local manager and his trainees got their start while we slept and then both crews did final assembly and over prep for the opening day.
The rule of thumb for restaurant business is expect 200 to 300% of your regular weekly business for the first week. Each week you sustain over 200% of estimated, you can add 10%-20% to the estimate final ongoing traffic.
This requires staffing and service capacity to also be set to 200%.
At the end of two weeks our crew took 4 days off and moved on to the next location in one of 5 states, and did it again.
So Zippy should not make plans for an ongoing crowd based on current demand, but every bit of work he does in the next two weeks making sure everyone has a good quality “Zippy” experience will pay off with increased traffic in the long run.
BTW I got my burgers and o-rings on opening day just before they ran out of the large patties. Get plenty of napkins :)
Suggestions:
outdoor tables
rethink the layout and traffic pattern in that kitchen. I foresee some colorful collisions in that X between the fry station and the make table.
Keep the C-store owner happy too. Brainstorm for tie ins like rolls of paper towels, moist towelettes, cup holders, whatever.
Above all, grind more burger :)
May 5, 2008 at 3:50 am #623620
addParticipantWe also stopped by today after they had closed early – had a short chat with the owner who was very friendly, offered us a menu, etc. – I got the feeling it was one of those “mixed blessings” – great to have all the business, hard to manage it. We will be back and support them – seems to be a huge need (or more accurately, desire) for some decent burgers in WS!!!
I hope they read your message Ken – good advice for planning ahead.
May 5, 2008 at 3:54 am #623621
kiridaParticipantI was turned away on Thursday because they had sold out, and came back on Friday to pick up a few burgers for a road trip. It was definitely worth returning. The burgers tasted delicious–fresh and messy!
May 5, 2008 at 7:46 pm #623622
RonMParticipantI’ve been on the hunt for a good hamburger most of my life. They are a rare breed! I’m very anxious to try a Zippy Burger, but haven’t found the place open yet (now we know why). I’ll certainly keep trying.
I found the best burgers (IMHO) long ago in a little gas station just west of Auburn before the freeway bulldozed the area. It was called “Galleger’s Corner”. Owned by a widow who lived in a little house across the street. She had added a tiny lunch room on one end of the service station with one table and 4 or 5 bar stools and a fireplace. Her hamburgers were nearly perfect with the right combinations of ingredients and she served them with a frozen mug of root beer from a keg.
I’m still looking for an equivalent…will let you know once we try a Zippy Burger and am willing to forgo the root beer!
May 5, 2008 at 8:02 pm #623623
JoBParticipantMay 6, 2008 at 1:40 am #623624
celeste17ParticipantRonM maybe you can bring your own frozen mug that way you can have the root beer!
May 6, 2008 at 4:09 am #623625
JoBParticipanti went back today…
i really enjoyed the burger and the onion rings… cooked on the spot.
and i got the added bonus of running into another West Seattle Blog forum member…
i give it two thumbs up.
May 6, 2008 at 5:00 pm #623626
DJSonstengMemberI agree with JoB. Zippys is awesome!!
May 6, 2008 at 6:51 pm #623627
JoBParticipanti wish there was room for outdoor tables…
when i went i had no cash so i stopped at the c-store next door to use the machine and get a coke….. and asked about the hamburger joint. she told me it was very good… and the lady at the espresso stand told me they were good for business…
in the hour i was there i observed that this may be where all the old rockers in West Seattle hang out in the afternoon… if nothing else, the people watching was great fun…
May 6, 2008 at 10:42 pm #623628
elgregoMemberFinally had one today. Really good! Definitely gonna go back.
May 6, 2008 at 11:28 pm #623629
RonMParticipantHad time to go by today at noon. Bad idea! The parking lot was full and I couldn’t find another. Probably okay because there were people waiting outside too. Maybe I can talk my wife into taking turns driving around the block while we each try them out. If they are really that good, maybe they’ll find a bigger place.
By all of the interest, there must be something good there. And perhaps there are many more readers of this blog than I would have thought.
Still willing to forgo the root beer if we can just get in!
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