WWW.VALLEYRECORD.COM Snoqualmie Valley Record • August 24, 2011 • 9

Change comes slowly and burgers still rule at 60-year-old Scott’s Dairy Freeze

When Tricia Simpson and Melody Ramsey meet for their regular lunch get-together at Scott’s Dairy Freeze, they always order the same thing.

“I’m burger and jo-jos, she’s plain cheeseburger and fries,” Ramsey said, laughing.

The North Bend restaurant has been a backdrop for these two women, now in their 30s, ever since they were teens. Both worked at Scott’s when they were 16. So did all of their friends.

“It’s got a lot of history,” Simpson said of the place. “A lot of generations go through here.”

“I love it. It works,” Ramsey said. “There’s no need to change it.”

“Exactly,” Simpson adds.Change is something that, indeed, comes very slowly to

Scott’s Dairy Freeze, which marked its 60th year in business earlier this month. Owned by three different families over that period, it’s the oldest continually operated hamburger restaurant in King County.

Scott’s opened Aug. 1, 1951. Truman was president, a new home was $9,000 and burgers cost just a few cents.

Today’s world has changed by leaps and bounds, but the burgers, shakes and fries are still the main attraction at Scott’s, handed out through the same windows, which themselves have changed little beyond the occasional coat of paint. The menu, too, is timeless.

“Nothing is going to replace the cheeseburg-er,” said current owner Ken Hearing.

Scott’s Dairy Freeze was opened by Al and Dorothy Scott. They ran the stand—there were no tables—until 1969, when they sold it to their daughter and son-in-law, Pat and Rob Baker. The Bakers ran it for another two decades,

until, ready to retire, they sold to Hearing, a former sheet metal worker who believed he could make a living in the business.

The Dairy Freeze tradition is good fast food. But those crowd-drawing burgers and fries don’t always come easy.

A tasty institution

VALLEY PROFILE

Seth Truscott/Staff Photo

Left, owner Ken Hearing and staff await customers at Scott’s Dairy Freeze, which marked its 60th anniversary this year. Below, a classic logo from years past.

Can’t beat a classic

SEE CLASSIC, 10

WWW.VALLEYRECORD.COM10 • August 24, 2011 • Snoqualmie Valley Record

5184

79

(425) 888-2301

234 E. North Bend WayNorth Bend

5184

79

Serving goodfast food since 1951

60thanniversarycelebration!

A part of Puget Sound family memories since 1951.

ken hearing • owner

606060606060Wednesday

August 31st Hrs: 10:00am-8:30pm(or until we run out!)

Opening Day • August 1951

In 1951, A Burger, Fries and a Shake was already an American Classic. When Scott's Dairy Freeze opened up in August that year,

then owners Al and Dorothy Scott had one thing in mind...to serve good, fast food at a reasonable price.

Much has changed since 1951.....in our country and in the Valley. Today, Scott's Dairy Freeze is the oldest hamburger establishment in the Puget Sound.

Why? Because at Scott's Dairy Freeze, one thing hasn’t changed: we make our Burgers, Shakes and Fries the old fashioned way, hand-crafted with each individual order.

Come join the celebration, and taste for yourself why Scott's Dairy Freeze has been a part of Puget Sound family memories for sixty years.

hamburger establishment in the Puget Sound. Why? Because at Scott's Dairy Freeze, one thing hasn’t changed: we make our Burgers,

60thANNIVERSARY

SPECIALBurger, Fries and a Soft Drink Combo:

8.31.11 only

Write down your Scott's Dairy Freeze

Memories in our memory book and

get a FREE BURGER, fries & soft drink combo!

8.31.11 only

Come Try Our New Expanded Menu

Breakfast - Lunch - Dinner**Not valid on August 31.2011

only $200

Hearing is constantly challenged to find the highest quality ingredi-ents to create the feel-good meals of yesteryear.

“In order to have good food, you have to start with good ingredients,” Hearing said. That means a lot of homework, behind the scenes. One result: Scott’s was the first burger res-taurant in King County, says Hearing, to switch to zero-trans fat fry oil.

“It’s tough because the cost of food keeps going up,” Hearing said. “I do my best to keep my costs as low as possible.”

Since 1990, he’s hired more than 400 employees.

“Some of them lasted one day. Some of them are still here,” he said.

Some employees quickly learn that the fast-food industry is not for them. But others have gone on to put them-selves through college as cooks.

The business has also drawn a big following of regulars. Some diners come in daily, others weekly, still oth-ers whenever they’re passing through town.

“We have people who stop here every time they climb Mount Si,” Hearing said. “We have golfers who come in every time they play.”

Hearing has occasionally added to the menu, and rarely taken any-thing away. The Dairy Freeze cooks also experiment with a little home-style cooking, like soups and banana bread. But the basics of the business

remain the same.Physically, just about the only thing

Hearing’s changed is the color—red instead of green—and the decor of the dining room. He gets lots of com-pliments from travelers about the his-toric maps and photos on the walls.

While the business does get busy, and the nine tables (two of which are video game machines) get full, Hearing isn’t eager to make any big changes to the look, feel and flow of the place.

“The only way I could improve that aspect of the business is to expand. Tearing it down and starting from

scratch... I don’t think that’s where I want to go,” he said.

Hearing, who ran for North Bend Mayor in 2004 and is entering his third term, is often recognized behind the counter.

“The locals know me as mayor,” he said. “An awful lot of them promote to their kids, ‘Hey, the mayor’s wait-ing on you!’”

Hearing doesn’t see himself as just a caretaker of the Scott’s tradition.

“This is part of my life,” he said. “I don’t want to take it for granted.”

• Scott’s Dairy Freeze is located at 234 E North Bend Way.

1951 THAT WAS THE YEAR

Scott’s Dairy Freeze celebrates its 60th anniversary this month. When Al and Dororthy Scott opened this business on Aug. 1, 1951, North Bend was very different than it is now. The Sunset Highway, what is today Interstate 90, still ran by the front door. North Bend had its own high school. The world was also very different:• Harry Truman was president of the United States.• The Korean War was being fought.• The average family income in the U.S. was $3,700 a year.• Gas cost 19 cents per gallon. Postage stamps cost three cents.• The term “Rock and Roll” was coined in Cleveland• The Dennis the Menace comic strip debuted in newspapers• Perry Como, Nat “King” Cole and Tony Bennett topped the music charts• UNIVAC, the first major business computer, is introduced. So is color TV.• J.D. Salinger published “Catcher in the Rye.”And around the Valley, business was a little different, too:• The Men’s Shop at Meadowbrook sold men’s sport coats for $16.• North Bend Theatre was showing “Father of the Bride” starring Spencer Tracy and Liz Taylor, and “Smuggler’s Island” starring Jeff Chandler.• Snoqualmie’s Shurfine store sold beef sirloin for 89 cents a pound, sliced bacon for 59 cents a pound and Franco-American spaghetti for 13 cents a can.• Future Scott’s Dairy Freeze owner Ken Hearing is born

CLASSIC FROM 9

Courtesy photo

Some things change, some things stay the same: Scott’s Dairy Freeze, as it appeared in its original 1950s incarnation. The dining room came in 1969.