Have you eaten at Fat Smitty's?

On the left hand side of the road heading west toward Sequim, this small-
appearing building actually can seat up to 50 people and serve more if
you want to do take-out in the summertime. 

My readers know that once in awhile I promote eateries that are unique, affordable (usually) and have good food. I have been driving by Fat Smitty's on Hwy 101, at the intersection of Hwy 20 to Port Townsend, here at the head of Discovery Bay on the Olympic Peninsula for too many months. Someone told me it was worth stopping there. On Saturday, I did it - I actually stopped and went in by myself. (This link will take you to a detailed story and more history of the place by Charlie Bermant of the Peninsula Daily News.)

Fear not... there is an ATM inside that will give you some
cash, if you have some in your account.

From the outside, it looks a little intimidating, but inside it is all heart... all the dollar bills stuck on the ceilings and walls eventually make their way to local charities. One of the servers told me that it all started when a salesman wanted to put up his card and tacked a dollar bill up on the wall with it. The gimmick caught on, and now when you walk in your hands will brush past bills on the door, bills framing the windows, dollar bills everywhere.

Last year, 2012, when a wall needed replacing, all the money was taken down and counted. The wall went back up and the funds were split between the Seattle Children's Hospital and the local chapter of the Boy Scouts for a total of $10,116.00. "All the money you see up there now has been put there since March 1 of 2012," my server said. Impressive. So it seems that once the customers realize how the funds will be allocated, they are only too willing to hang their money in the place where their mouths once were, leaving it for a good cause. (I did.) So much more appealing than a plastic tube on the counter.

By the way, as you will read if you go the the PDN link, there is a very good security system in place here and you might not want to risk the consequences if you try to help yourself to the 'decor.'

The split "Fat Smitty Burger" features several layers of burger with cheese,
lettuce, tomato, & a nice homemade sauce topped off with a pickle.

Fortunately the couple next to me decided to order the featured burger, the Fat Smitty Burger (link to the menu is here) and while the price is fair enough (and I don't guarantee the prices are going to be the same as shown here) it looked enormous to me. They opted to have it cut in half and pay the the "split burger' fee of $1.00 because they provide two plates with extra sides. I ordered the basic burger, just a bun and a package of chips and a soda for $6.75. It was a delicious burger!! Next time I'd probably get the cole slaw as the bag of chips was a waste of time, or you can get steak fries, but I knew I'd never eat them all. This is a Pepsi place, no hard liquor, so live with it... you shouldn't be drinking and driving anyhow.

Although I saw a motorcycle group pull up, this is very
much a family place with kid-sized meals. Those are
really dollar bills you see hanging from the ceiling!

A sweet touch is offering a Tootsie Roll Pop along with the check for 'dessert.'

The restaurant opens at 10:30 a.m. and closes at 7 p.m. every day, unless there's a change, and you can call them at 360-385-4099 to confirm.

I learned that the couple sitting at the bar with me are from Port Angeles and have been married for about 34 years. The wife had been to Fat Smitty's when it was in originally in Port Townsend and for all the years she's been married she has denied her husband the opportunity to eat at this fine establishment until this day... hope he doesn't have to wait another 34 years to come back! She said to me, "It seemed like every time we were going by we were on our way to eat someplace else or had just come from eating at another place. I'm really glad we decided to stop here today, though. It's just as good as I remembered it!"

The cook and the nearly life-sized burger carved in wood outside this
road-side eatery will remind you that you are coming in to eat!

Don't you make that mistake... you'll be missing out on a very fine burger and plenty of steak fries - there's nothing stingy about the food or the owners.

American Diner Featured in Barichara

De Tin Marin offers two levels of dining in a 1950's
American diner atmosphere near Parque Cementerio.

The fascination with the American early Rock n' Roll scene has caused some enterprising Colombians to re-create an American diner here in Barichara, complete with hamburgers, french fries and the real Coca-cola in bottles, not cans.

Just up from the cathedral, near the Parque Cementerioat Carrera 6a No. 2-50, you are in for a surprise.

Tonight on my walk I discovered a new and fun restaurant, "De Tin Marin," (roughly translated, I believe, from the child's game of 'eeney, meeney, miney, moe' used when you are trying to pick/choose something or someone) is now open for business but not enough people know about it so no one was eating just then. The staff was pleased to have me come and take pictures and if I had planned properly I would have also had something to eat - it smelled wonderful inside!

Superman, hand-wringing washers, barber chairs, jukeboxes and so
much more will catch your eyes and memories (if you are old enough) at
De Tin Marin in Barichara, Santander, Colombia.

With two levels, there is seating for about 60 or so people with a red, white and black decor and the wonderful metallic round stools and tall tables, plus comfortable booth dining harking back to the mid-50's.  It is not easy to find the American gas pumps, barber chairs and other fun items of that period here, so I can only guess that some of these items came from someone's collection.

A basic hamburger is $5,000 COPs (about $2.75 USD) and a 'perro sencillo' (hot dog) is about the same. There will be shrimp cocktail for $10,000 ($5.75 USD) and arepas and patacon as well in the same price range as the burgers and dogs. Drinks range from $1,500 (one mil cinco) for a 'pop' (gaseosa in Spanish) to $40,000 for a flacon of red wine (merlot or cabernet). For the heavy hitters, there will be Chivas Regal whiskey in 375 cc glasses at $60,000 COPs, a little over $36 USD, I'd guess, if the exchange rate stays about where it is now. Not exactly what you'd find in an American diner then or now, but this is supposed to be entertainment after all.

"The Flying Horse" from Mobilgas was a
hit on my memory from the '50's in another
place far from Colombia.

This week is the precursor to the week of Semana Santa, so Barichara will be filling up with plenty of people from outside visiting and I am sure this will turn out to be a hot spot with a jukebox playing some of the "Oldies" and goodies from 5 -10 p.m. Monday night through Thursday and from 5-12 on the weekends. Don't know if there will be anyone dancing the jitterbug, but perhaps I could go and give lessons.

It crossed my mind that perhaps they will get so busy they'd like to have an authentic 'be-bopper' chewing gum, in bobby sox and a poodle skirt running around taking orders in English... it was just an idea - but an ancient teenager? Probably would be better if I just go and sit and quietly have one of the hamburguesas and remember what it was like all those decades ago when the Peterborough Diner was still in operation, the movie theatre was next to the Mobil gas station that 'Jeep' ran and a Coke was a different drink than it is today.

A Night on the Town

Dick's Drive-In is open until 2 a.m. in the Ballard area.

My best friend (Jey-hu) said he was "taking me out to dinner and dancing," and the last time he offered this kind of entertainment, we ended up at COSTCO where dinner was a hotdog, but to be fair, dancing was not part of that event. So I was a little unsure what was in store.

If you have lived in the Seattle area all your life, you probably know about "Dick's," where you drive up, order a hamburger and a shake or drink and fries - for less than $5!! I was completely unaware of this piece of history and enjoyed the treat of time travel, because the burgers are about the same price they were 20 years ago! Look at the signs below or click on the link to read it completely on their website:

A hamburger, plain, is only $1.20, and a cheeseburger is slightly more. After a delightful meal with plenty of visual entertainment, we went on to Lombardi's, where a friend of my friend is the manager and they were offering live music with the Joe Doe Rock and Roll History Band.

The music started at 8:30 with the band playing music from the 50's and plenty of patrons remembered some of the "oldies and goodies," and as the evening progressed, so did the history lesson but the dancing crowd got younger and younger as the music got louder and louder with more and more bass thumping guitars.

We didn't last past midnight, but up until then we did dance and laugh and have a little taste of Lombardi's appetizers. My favorite meal there is the Chicken Marsala, but the Beef Tenderloin Tips are a great snack.

All in all, it was a fun evening and with all the various tasks we've had to do since we've come back, it was a great change of pace.