Zip's Drive-In

Robert “Zip” Zuber opened the first Zip’s in Kennewick, Washington, in 1953, feeding the scientists and workers pouring into the Tri-Cities for jobs at the Hanford nuclear site. The motto was “Thrift and Swift”. A second restaurant near Gonzaga in Spokane became a student favourite, and the chain spread across the Inland Northwest.

When drive-ins across America were dying in the 1970s, Zip’s owners built some of the first drive-thru lanes in the Northwest and survived. Its regional cult following has been compared to In-N-Out’s. The Zip’s signature quirk is tartar sauce, which the region puts on far more than fish, and a menu of burgers loaded with ham as well as bacon.

About 40 restaurants in eastern Washington and northern Idaho, none of them franchised.