Seattle fine-dining restaurant Canlis serves Dick’s burgers during power outage

Known as one of Seattle’s finest restaurants, Canlis turned to another long-time restaurant to cater to customers when they first ran out of power.

SEATTLE – The premiere restaurant Canlis is known for many things. It has been one of Seattle’s landmarks for 70 years and made headlines for innovative pivot points during the COVID-19 pandemic.

But Canlis faced a new curveball this week – known to anyone who lives in the Puget Sound area. For the first time in 70 years, Canlis lost power during operating hours.

Brian Canlis, third generation owner, said, “We were full. All of our tables were reserved and even our four private rooms were occupied when we suddenly went black. How, pitch black. ”

The Wednesday night power outage happened just after 8 p.m. and Brian said the creepy change of tone didn’t stop because her piano player kept going and the staff quickly lit the room with more than 200 candles.

Brian owns the restaurant with his brother Mark, who was free for the night, so Brian admits that he found himself in a very unfamiliar situation and was just trying to adjust.

“I’ve never been so happy that there were candles on every table!”

The kitchen went dark and while the staff were ready to use their phone lights it would not be safe to cook. The city told Canlis that power would not be restored until 3 a.m.

“But what do we do? People are hungry and when we are hungry we go to Dick! ”

Just younger than Canlis, Dick’s Drive-in is celebrating 68 years of service in Seattle and has deployed a gold backup plan. Canlis staff served the famous, gold-wrapped Dick’s burgers and champagne by candlelight.

Saul Spady of Dick’s Drive-ins said they were very happy to be helping another community staple and only found out about it through social media.

“They posted about it online and it brought people together in a special way so we’re excited to be a part of it,” said Spady.

Social media like Instagram lit up with happy customers who seemed to find the phrase quite charming. Canlis said they received messages from customers like the woman who emailed them thanking them for making their anniversary so special.

“I don’t even think they got to the main course of their meal before the power went out, and they thank us for making it so memorable. That’s incredible!”

Yesterday evening at 8:09 p.m. our restaurant lost power. It was the first time in 71 years that we lost power while in operation ….

Posted by Canlis on Thursday 28th Oct 2021