A friend of mine who moved to Ballard from Yakima wondered aloud to me once why the locals raved about Dick’s so much, and yes, when I drove past, the building looked like a giant plexiglass jack-in-the-box.

You see, my friend and I, as residents of Eastern Washington, had seen our fair share of burger joints. For us, Miner’s in Yakima was one destination we knew well. She had taken me to a “hole in the wall” restaurant that served great Korean food, so I guess she wondered why everyone would be so excited about a common burger joint when exotic food abounded, compared to where we lived.

Well, I read a few media articles about Dick’s, and found out more about the company’s hiring practices, wages, and scholarship programs—and why they were impressive… for a burger joint.

Neverthless, I still have to laugh listening to Sir Mix-A-Lot rap about Dick’s in “My Posse’s On Broadway”, remembering what the place looked like to me. Now… now I have to see sometime how good the food is.