Zip's Drive In (more commonly referred to as "Zip's"), is a restaurant chain located in the Inland Northwest region of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Formerly a

drive-in A drive-in is a facility (such as a restaurant or Drive-in theater, movie theater) where one can driving, drive in with an automobile for service. At a drive-in restaurant, for example, customers park their vehicles and are usually served by ...

restaurant, expanding throughout the region in the 1960s and 1970s, the restaurant chain is one of few drive-ins that continued to expand through the early adoption of

drive-through A drive-through or drive-thru (a sensational spelling of the word through), is a type of take-out service provided by a business that allows customers to purchase products (or use the service provided by the business) without leaving their c ...

lanes and transitioning to a more

fast food Fast food is a type of Mass production, mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. ''Fast food'' is a commercial term, limited to food sold in a restaurant or store with frozen, preheat ...

business model.

History

Zip's Drive In was founded in 1953 in

Kennewick, Washington Kennewick () is a city in Benton County, Washington, Benton County in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It is located along the southwest bank of the Columbia River, just southeast of the confluence of the Columbia and Yakima ...

, by Robert "Zip" Zuber. Zip's was originally a

created to serve scientists and workers coming to the Tri-Cities to work at

Hanford Hanford may refer to: Places *Hanford (constituency), a constituency in Tuen Mun, People's Republic of China *Hanford, Dorset, a village and parish in England *Hanford, Staffordshire, England *Hanford, California, United States *Hanford, Iowa, ...

and other nuclear industry companies, using the motto "Thrift and Swift". Zip's attracted so many customers, that Zuber decided to build another store, this time in

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south o ...

near the

Gonzaga College Gonzaga College SJ is a voluntary Catholic boys' secondary school in Ranelagh, Dublin, Ireland. Founded in 1950, Gonzaga College is under the trusteeship of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuit Order), one of five Jesuit secondary schools in Ir ...

campus where it became quite popular among students. Zip Zuber eventually sold the business and after several transactions eventually came to be owned and operated primarily by Ed Minor, Don Kelly, and Harold Fettig who grew the business in the 1960's and 1970's. In the 1960s, Zip's was a typical American drive-in restaurant, where the business model entailed customers driving up to a phone or table to place an order for a

carhop A carhop is a waiter or waitress who brings fast food to people in their cars at drive-in restaurants. Carhops usually work on foot but sometimes use roller skates, as depicted in movies such as ''American Graffiti'' and television shows such as ...

to bring out, but by the 1970s many drive-ins across America were closing in the face of faster competition from

restaurants. Zip's began to decline, but Minor and Kelly built some of the first

drive-thru A drive-through or drive-thru (a sensational spelling of the word through), is a type of take-out service provided by a business that allows customers to purchase products (or use the service provided by the business) without leaving their ...

s in the

Northwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west— ...

. Their quick thinking ended up saving the chain, and it is one of the few local restaurant chains still in operation today.

Locations

Zip's is located in 8 counties across Washington and Idaho, and was located in 11 counties at its peak. In 2017, Zip's had 40 locations, all in the Inland Northwest. The chain has been compared to In-N-Out Burger in southern California, due to its regionality and cult following. The chain started in the Tri-Cities, spread to Spokane, and then eventually spread to the

Idaho Panhandle The Idaho panhandle—locally known as North Idaho, Northern Idaho, or simply the Panhandle—is a salient region of the U.S. state of Idaho encompassing the state's 10 northernmost counties: Benewah, Bonner, Boundary, Clearwater, Idaho, ...

and the

Palouse The Palouse ( ) is a geographic region of the northwestern United States, encompassing parts of North Central Idaho, north central Idaho, southeastern Washington (part of eastern Washington), and by some definitions, parts of northeast Oregon. ...

. Zip's is not a franchise and the menu can differ slightly depending on the owner and location; hours also vary, with some serving breakfast. A

Boise, Idaho Boise ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Idaho, most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, there were 235,685 people residing in the city. Loca ...

location was opened, but was shuttered during the recession.

References

{{reflist Fast-food chains of the United States Companies based in Spokane, Washington Fast-food hamburger restaurants Privately held companies based in Washington (state) Regional restaurant chains in the United States Tri-Cities, Washington American companies established in 1953 1953 establishments in Washington (state) Restaurants established in 1953

History

Locations

Menu

See also

References