Many a longtime Vancouverite has driven past the old clock on the I-5 through Jantzen Beach with a hankering for the hamburger baskets of summers past.
Closed since 2005, Waddle's Drive-In and Coffee Shop remains a signpost in the Pacific Northwestern psyche, even with its trademark roadside sign taken over by the Hooters restaurant chain.
But for aficinados of Waddle's oven-roasted turkey and homemade meatloaf – relief may finally be in sight. This week, Steve Waddle, grandson of restaurant founder, Gene, opened DuckTales Kitchen in Vancouver in the hopes of recapturing some of the magic that kept his family's business a local fixture for 60 years.
Co-owned and operated with his wife, Jane, Waddle's new DuckTales Kitchen debuted Tuesday morning at the site of Ballew's Restaurant – a TKbistro which closed after owner David Ballew decided to move on to other opportunities earlier this month. "Normally, it would be a scary thing opening in this economy, but Ballew's was doing pretty well at this location … so we're not worried," Ballew said.
Though the Waddle's brand is noticeably absent from this third-generation establishment, other signature touches have been brought back, such as the familiar duck and perhaps most importantly – the food.
"To see the duck taken down off the clock, to see the restaurant close, it was just a sad day," Waddle said of the old Jantzen Beach restaurant, where he once worked as a busboy. "But I think we're going to do pretty well here."
