Northwest favorites are historic places. Some are still here and visualize a romantic past. Some have been left by the wayside on the quest to jump into the future. These are the restaurants where locals loved to eat when the businesses were in their heyday.
Mount Rainier National Park was established on March 2, 1899, and is the most visited landmark in Washington State. The mountain is an active volcano and encompasses 235,625 acres. The Paradise Inn Dining Room features a bourbon buffalo meatloaf and offers views of the mountain’s majestic scenery.
The Space Needle is a major landmark in the Pacific Northwest and was built for the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair. It was the tallest structure west of the Mississippi River. It weighs 9,550 tons, is 138 feet wide, and 605 feet tall. The Sky City Restaurant is 500 feet high and revolves with views around the city. Even Elvis Presley visited the Seattle Center.
Other much loved sites show off the wondrous coastal beauty of the Olympic National Park, with its Kalaloch Lodge and Lake Quinault Lodge. Visitors can have “high tea” with the rich and famous at the historic Empress Hotel in Victoria, British Columbia’s capital city, on Vancouver Island.
Seattle visitors can enjoy these Northwest favorites if not in person then in spirit by viewing these historical photographs and reading about their wonderful histories.
ALKI HOMESTEAD. Just a few steps from this building, on November 13, 1851, the schooner Exact landed on Alki Beach with a small party of settlers. In 1902, Mr. and Mrs. William J. Bernard began building Fir Lodge and lived there from 1904 to 1907. But it was Doris Nelson who, in 1960, gave the lodge the ambiance that it still has today. (Courtesy of the Southwest Seattle Historical Society.)
ALKI HOMESTEAD MENU (INSIDE). The menu has not changed much over the years. The decor is Victorian, with lace tablecloths and crystal chandeliers. The business is known for its family-style pan-fried chicken dinner. On July 21, 1907, the Seattle Driving and Auto Club bought the homestead to use as a destination to drive to. The homestead is still open at 2717 Sixty-first Avenue SW. (Courtesy of the Southwest Seattle Historical Society.)
CASHMERE CAFÉ. At the beginning of the 20th century, a young Armenian named Armen Tertsagian immigrated to the United States where he met another young Armenian, Mark Balaban, and they went into business together. They purchased an apple farm, which they named Liberty Orchards. They also perfected a delectable apple and walnut recipe, “Confection of the Fairies,” also known as applets. In 1920, they opened Cashmere Café and Confectionery, located in Cashmere, Washington. As shown in the postcard, the restaurant was clean and served appetizing food with the best service. Currently, the renamed Cashmere Applets and Cotlets offers tours and has a wonderful gift shop. (Author’s collection.)
EMPRESS HOTEL. This postcard of the Empress Hotel was postmarked in 1949. The hotel, built between 1904 and 1908, is one of the oldest and most famous hotels in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. The hotel has 477 rooms. (Author’s collection.)
EMPRESS HOTEL DINING ROOM. Postmarked in 1911, this card shows the interior of the Empress Hotel dining room. Shirley Temple stayed at the Empress in the 1930s with her parents because of kidnapping threats. (Author’s collection.)
EMPRESS HOTEL MENU. Pictured here is a four-page menu from the Empress Hotel, dated July 20, 1939. The hotel is well known for its classic Edwardian afternoon tea service for approximately $50 Canadian. Today the restaurant serves tea in the “Tea Lobby” to more than 800 tourists and guests. (Author’s collection.)
EMPRESS HOTEL MENU (INSIDE). Every Saturday evening in the ballroom one could dance to a 10-piece orchestra and have supper for $1.25. The front entrance did not have a sign for many years. Victorians and hotel guests evoked strong emotions, as one worker expressed while raising a new sign above the door, “Anyone who doesn’t know this is the Empress shouldn’t be staying here.” (Author’s collection.)
KALALOCH LODGE LOUNGE. Nestled in the Olympic Peninsula is the Kalaloch Lodge, built in 1938. This coastal land was aptly named Kalaloch, or “land of plenty,” by the Quinault Indians. The late afternoon view of the Pacific Ocean is one of the attractions of this renowned resort. (Author’s collection.)
LAKE QUINAULT LODGE. Built in 1926, the Lake Quinault Lodge, with its massive brick fireplace and native Northwest art adorning the beams, is a Seattle retreat to the Olympic rainforest. Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt visited Lake Quinault Lodge on October 1, 1937, and nine months later the Olympic National Park was born. (Courtesy of Mary Patterson.)
LAKE QUINAULT LODGE DINING ROOM. The lodge’s dining room is now called the Roosevelt Dining Room in honor of Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt. A photograph of President Roosevelt dining at this historic retreat hangs on the dining room wall. (Courtesy of Mary Patterson.)
PARADISE INN, RAINIER NATIONAL PARK. The Puyallup Indians first called this mountain Talol, or Tahoma, from the Lushootseed word meaning “mother of waters.” Mount Rainier was established as a national park on March 2, 1899. Paradise Inn is depicted in the postcard above. (Author’s collection.)
PARADISE INN DINING ROOM. This c. 1919 postcard is of the dining room at Paradise Inn on Mount Rainier. Notice the waitresses at their side stations posing for the photograph, which was taken by Ashael Curtis. (Author’s collection.)
NATIONAL PARK INN, LONGMIRE SPRINGS. Originally, Paradise Inn was called National Park Inn, as depicted in the postcard above. Mount Rainier has always been a favorite Seattle resort and currently is the most visited place in Washington State. (Author’s collection.)
SNOQUALMIE FAllS LODGE ENTRANCE. Jennie Jarrett stands under the Snoqualmie Falls entrance sign in this c. 1917 photograph. The sign in the photograph says, “A rainbow every day,” and “A little Inn for your convenience.” The photograph was donated to the Snoqualmie Valley Museum by Robert and Marie Jarrett. (Courtesy of the Snoqualmie Valley Historical Museum.)
SNOQUALMIE FALLS LODGE. This 1920s photograph of the Snoqualmie Falls Lodge was donated to the Snoqualmie Valley Historical Museum by longtime resident Nels Nelson. The original building, including the brick fireplace in the main dining room, above Snoqualmie Falls is still part of the updated Salish Lodge. (Courtesy of the Snoqualmie Valley Historical Museum.)
SNOQUALMIE FALLS POSTCARD. Snoqualmie Falls is shown during the spring runoff in the 1910s prior to the building of the Snoqualmie Falls Lodge. To make the falls accessible by automobile, the Sunset Highway was built in the early 20th century from Kirkland. A power plant was built in 1898 and operates at the base of the falls, 270 feet below the surface. This power plant was the world’s first underground electrical plant. (Author’s collection.)
SNOQUALMIE FALLS LODGE. This postcard shows the original Snoqualmie Falls Lodge that overlooked the sacred 276-foot-tall waterfall. The Snoqualmie tribe believes that Snoqualm, or Moon the Transformer, created the world and the falls. On June 3, 1988, the elegant Salish Lodge, formerly the Snoqualmie Falls Lodge, held a grand reopening. Snoqualmie Falls is the second most visited tourist attraction in Washington State. (Author’s collection.)
SNOQUALMIE FALLS LODGE BROCHURE. The Snoqualmie Falls Lodge, “A Northwest Dining Tradition Since 1916,” was located about 30 miles east of Seattle. The restaurant was known for its “World Famous Farm Breakfast.” It also served a “Family Style Fried Chicken Dinner” on Sundays. (Author’s collection.)
SNOQUALMIE FALLS LODGE BROCHURE. Author Robin Shannon once was a waitress at the lodge and wore a “country farm girl” outfit while pouring “Honey from the sky” over buttermilk biscuits (depicted in this brochure). The brick fireplace from the original Snoqualmie Falls Lodge has been retained and is part of the modern Salish Lodge. (Author’s collection.)
SALISH LODGE MENU. A menu from the Salish Lodge at Snoqualmie Falls c. 1988 is shown here. All breakfasts at the Snoqualmie Falls Lodge and in the early days of the Salish Lodge included a selection of fresh fruit. Author Robin Shannon remembers serving a huge plate of various succulent melons, strawberries with Devonshire cream, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and fresh-squeezed juice for the first course. (Author’s collection.)
ELVIS PRESLEY AT THE MONORAIL STATION. Elvis Presley presents a ham from Presley’s Tennessee farm to Washington governor Albert Rosellini on September 5, 1962. Presley was in Seattle to make his 11th motion picture, Take Me to the Fair. He is pictured with Gov. Albert Rosellini (left); Ted Richmond (second from left), the producer of the movie; and Norman Taurog (right), the director. (Courtesy of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer Collection, MOHAI, No. 1986.5.40806.2.)
SPACE NEEDLE RESTAURANT. The interior of the Space Needle Restaurant is shown in this 1960 postcard. The diners enjoy a continuous panorama of the city of Seattle as they revolve around the entire circle every hour. The Space Needle was the tallest building west of the Mississippi River when it was built in 1961 and is still Seattle’s No. 1 tourist destination. (Author’s collection.)
SPACE NEEDLE RESTAURANT MENU (INSIDE). In 1959, Edward E. Carlson, inspired by the Stuttgart Tower in Germany, sketched his vision of a dominant structure for the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair on a place mat in a coffee house. On April 21, 1962, the Space Needle, which was built for $4.5 million, opened on the first day of the World’s Fair. (Author’s collection.)
SPACE NEEDLE RESTAURANT DRINK MENU. On the flip side of the drink menu was an interesting map of key places in Washington State. From the top of the Space Needle, customers can see not only the downtown Seattle skyline, but also the Cascade and Olympic Mountains, Mount Baker, Mount Rainier, Elliott Bay, and the surrounding islands. Author’s collection.)
SPACE NEEDLE RESTAURANT DRINK MENU. The “Space Cage” was the original name of the Space Needle, and the first name for the restaurant was “Eye of the Needle.” Hoge Sullivan was the first Space Needle manager, and he suffered from acrophobia, a fear of heights. The Space Needle is built to withstand winds of up to 200 miles per hour and earthquakes up to 9.5 in magnitude. (Author’s collection.)
