They don’t call it the De Luxe for nothing!  No sirree!  If you want the best ever hamburger AND fries, the De Luxe Bar and Grille on Seattle’s Capitol Hill is the place to go!  I don’t know why we had forgotten that…

Come to think of it, I don’t believe we ever did forget.  Somewhere along the line, they changed – got another chef or something.  But, back in our long-distance courting days when Nyel still lived in Seattle just a few blocks from the De Luxe, it was our restaurant-of-choice, especially when it came to burgers.

Since it went funny on us, we’ve been on the perfect burger-and-fries quest.  For a while, it was Geppetto’s in Ashland but then they changed bakers and their buns went bad.  Then it was a little hole-in-the-wall in Gettysburg (Yes!  The battle site!) but that was a bit inconvenient for a casual drop-in dinner.

Of course, right here at the beach there were Willy Burgers at the Ark when Nanci and Jimella had it.  And the Depot in Seaview still has Burger Night which comes close…  But, when we tucked into our lunch at the De Luxe the other day, we realized that for absolute perfection in the Burger-and-Fries Department, we need to hit the road and head north.

In most cases, it’s not the burger that’s lacking anything.  It’s the fries.  They need to be hand cut, deep fried, greasy and limp just like they were ‘back in the day’ before we went all oven-baked and health conscious.  Plus the meal has to require at least three napkins, one of which needs to be tucked under the chin.  And you have to leave the restaurant feeling slightly sinful and very much as if you will never do that again.

But, of course, we will.  Especially now that our other favorite Seattle eatery, “the Greek Joint” – otherwise known as “The Continental” on University Avenue, otherwise known as “The Ave” – has apparently closed.  We did a drive-by on Monday after our campus visitation for Susan’s dissertation…

Continuity, especially in the restaurant biz, is difficult.  We are so happy to report that the De Luxe is back up to its old standard!  And we are more than a little glad that it’s a four hour trip from Oysterville – definitely a built-in health benefit!