The new Dick’s Drive-In off Pacific Highway South in Kent stands shrouded in the Tuesday morning fog as construction nears full completion before its Dec. 12 grand opening. REPORTER PHOTO

The new Dick’s Drive-In off Pacific Highway South in Kent stands shrouded in the Tuesday morning fog as construction nears full completion before its Dec. 12 grand opening. REPORTER PHOTO

New Dick’s Drive-In on Kent’s West Hill to officially open Dec. 12

Popular burger joint plans grand opening, ribbon cutting

The new Dick’s Drive-In officially opens Wednesday, Dec. 12, the family-owned restaurant chain announced this week on Facebook.

A grand opening ceremony will be from 10 to 11 a.m. at the eatery, at 24220 Pacific Highway South, near the Midway Shopping Center, just south of the Lowe’s store on the east side of the road. The ribbon cutting is scheduled for 10:30 a.m.

According to owners, the restaurant will employ about 50 people.

It is the seventh Dick’s Drive-In, but the first one south of Seattle. The expansion is the first for the company since the Edmonds location opened in October 2011. Dick’s has five Seattle locations, including the original site that opened in 1954 in the Wallingford neighborhood, just west of the University of Washington.

The new location is easily accessible, sitting just west of Interstate 5 and along a business-filled highway with Highline College and Mount Rainier High School nearby in Des Moines. It’s also 5 miles south of Sea-Tac Airport, and a half-mile south of the Kent-Des Moines Road (aka State Route 516) intersection.

Dick’s let its fans decide where to place the company’s newest restaurant. The new site selection process included an online customer poll that attracted more than 170,000 votes, 100,000 of which came in the first 24 hours. On March 27, 2017, the company announced on Facebook Live that the south region had won with 60 percent of the vote. Dick’s officials later selected the Kent site.


Talk to us

Please share your story tips by emailing editor@kentreporter.com.

To share your opinion for publication, submit a letter through our website https://www.kentreporter.com/submit-letter/. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. (We’ll only publish your name and hometown.) Please keep letters to 300 words or less.

More in News

t
Voters strongly defeating Kent School District levy

Nearly 60% against Capital Projects and Technology Levy on April 23 ballot

t
Kent Police pursue, arrest two 14-year-old boys for armed robbery

April 23 incident began at convenience store along West Meeker Street; ended on Military Road South

t
Man killed at Auburn’s Muckleshoot Casino in ‘random’ stabbing

Police: ‘There did not appear to be any altercation between the two prior to the incident.’

Speakers at the Valley Comm/Crisis Connections press conference on April 16. Photo by Bailey Jo Josie/Sound Publishing.
Help is 3 numbers away: Crisis 911-988-211 services are now under one roof

“Through the Valley Comm 911/Crisis Connections partnership, we will help thousands more South King County community members get through what they’re going through.”

t
Kent Police chief believes new carjacking task force will reduce crime

Kent will play key role in efforts by U.S. Department of Justice to combat carjacking

t
Former Kent School District bus driver accused of raping student

Renton man, 39, reportedly sexually assaulted 11-year-old girl multiple times on bus

t
Kent Police investigate death of man found near railroad tracks

Found Sunday afternoon, April 21 in the 1000 block of First Avenue North

t
Asylum seekers, supporters ask Kent City Council for housing help

They want Econo Lodge on Central Avenue reopened; Kent, King County have no plans to do so

King County SWAT vehicle. Courtesy photo
Investigation concludes on SWAT team’s fatal shooting of suspect in Algona

A multi-agency team has finished investigating the King County SWAT’s shooting of… Continue reading

A screenshot of the King County Sheriff’s Office Guardian One helicopter view of the arrest of a Kent man after carjacking incidents Feb. 13 in Kent. COURTESY IMAGE, King County Sheriff’s Office
Kent Police to join new Western Washington Carjacking Task Force

U.S. Department of Justice announces Seattle, Kent police departments as partners to reduce crime

Kent Police Chief Rafael Padilla and his command staff will host a community meeting from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 9 at Highline College. COURTESY PHOTO, Kent Police
Kent Police set community meeting for May 9 at Highline College

Topics to include latest news, updates from Police Chief Rafael Padilla and his command staff

t
Sound Transit constructing giant bridge in Kent for light rail

Structure along I-5 stretches more than three football fields in length