| Ivar's | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Restaurant information | |
| Established | 1938; 87 years ago (1938) |
| Owner(s) | Ivar Haglund |
| City | Seattle |
| State | Washington |
| Website | ivars.com |
Ivar's is aseafoodrestaurant chain based inSeattle, Washington, United States, with operations in thePuget Sound region.
Ivar's also owns the Seattle-basedburger restaurant chainKidd Valley.
Ivar's was founded in 1938 by Seattlefolk singerIvar Haglund. Having built Seattle's firstaquarium on what is nowPier 54, he decided to add a companionfish and chips bar to feed his visitors. The bar was short-lived, however. On July 22, 1946, Haglund opened a new restaurant, Ivar's Acres ofClams, at the same location. The aquarium closed ten years later, but the restaurant remains.
Ivar's has two other full-service restaurants: Ivar'sSalmon House in Seattle'sNorthlake neighborhood, and Ivar's Mukilteo Landing inMukilteo, Washington, next to theWashington State Ferries terminal. There is a fishbar outside of all three full-service restaurants. All its other locations are seafood bars.
Nard Jones remarked in 1972 that Haglund was "not afraid to reflect Puget Sound tradition in the decor of his restaurants, whereas others of his profession seem intent on making their patrons forget where they are." In this respect, he singled out the Salmon House, "an almost exact replica of an old Indianlonghouse."[1]
EveryIndependence Day from 1964 until 2008, Ivar's sponsored the Fourth of Jul-Ivar's festival andfireworks show atDowntown Seattle'sMyrtle Edwards Park onElliott Bay. Ivar's estimated its attendance at around 300,000 people. On April 3, 2009, Ivar's announced it was no longer sponsoring its Fourth of Jul-Ivar's community fireworks show. Ivar's decided to focus its efforts on feeding families in the Pacific Northwest through its partnership with Northwest Harvest.[2]
In 2021,Kettle Classic Clam Chowder with Uncured Bacon,[3][4] sold only atCostco, was recalled in 13 states for plastic in the Chowder.[5]
Capitalizing on founder Haglund's reputation for eccentric marketing stunts, Ivar's put out a story that Haglund had placed billboards on the bottom of the Sound, related to a proposal he had once made for submarine traffic as a viable mode of transportation. Some documentation was released, including maps of possible sub-aquatic billboard locations. On August 22, 2009 one of the rumored signs was discovered and hoisted out of the water, advertising a cup of Clam Chowder for $0.75. Several other signs followed. The signs were displayed publicly as authentic, with Ivar's saying that for a time they would honor the $0.75 price for chowder.[6]
All of this turned out to be a hoax. The signs were sunk earlier in 2009, and local historian Paul Dorpat had deliberately furthered the hoax. Dorpat, ofHistoryLink contributes a weekly column to theSeattle Times, and attempted to hoax that newspaper, whose first story about the billboards cast doubt on their authenticity, stating, "if it was a hoax, a prime suspect would be the Ivar's chain itself." Several minor clues were placed to guarantee that the hoax would eventually unravel. For example, the chowder price wasn't correct for the ostensible date, and the wrong governor's name was on the letterhead from the Department of Fisheries.[7]