On Spokane’s Cult Fast-Food Chain, Zip’s Drive-in, and Recipes for Their Tartar and Fry Sauce

How a tartar sauce and a fry sauce made Spokane’s largest fast-food chain part of the zeitgeist.

Think “Spokane fast food,” and Zip’s Drive-in is, for many, what springs to mind. It’s an ethos that doesn’t confine itself to the Inland Northwest, as Zip’s has garnered a cult following well outside the region. But how did a seemingly typical mid-century fast-food chain reach such notoriety? It’s a vexed question.

Not Zip’s most scenic location, but you get the point. (Wikipedia)

Founded in 1953 by Robert “Zip” Zuber in Kennewick, Zip’s initially catered to employees of the Hanford Nuclear Site. Five years later, the first Spokane Zip’s opened near Gonzaga University, and the rest, as they say, is history. Zip’s expanded rapidly through Spokane and, after a handful of ownership changes, has operated from the Valley since 1969.

How exactly Zip’s reached a wider cult following outside of the Inland Northwest is anyone’s guess. It could be because Zip’s was one of the region’s first burger chains – McDonald’s would not arrive until 1963 – and as people moved out of town, its reputation traveled with them. Or, it’s just happenstance. Serving tartar and fry sauces with practically anything fast-food-related is a Spokane staple, and as Zip’s is the region’s largest local chain, it is by default the face of the trend. This was fully cemented in 2024 when Far & Wide published its “20 Best Regional Foods in the U.S.” list. Spokane’s tartar-sauce obsession placed number nineteen, with Zip’s weekly “40 gallons of fresh tartar sauce” presented as proof. Do a quick search, and you’ll find all kinds of odes to Zip’s, as well as a large number of copycat recipes.

A quick digression: When presenting regional food favorites, national media outlets tend to go with local recommendations as opposed to actually testing the foods themselves. That’s something we learned firsthand after our erstwhile SpoCOOL chatted with Guy Fieri’s Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives prior to their 2010 Spokane episode. (They used zero of our suggestions.) So, take Far & Wide’s listicle for what it’s worth. (Check “Sources” below for more.)

Secret as they are supposed to be, some crafty Redditors managed to snap pictures of Zip’s recipes. Translating those batch-sized quantities to manageable servings can be a bit of a head-scratcher, but after some experimenting, I think we’ve found the sweet spot for the tartar and fry sauces.

No directions needed, just mix the ingredients together.

Tartar Sauce – Serves 4-ish+

• ¾ cup mayo

• 2 tbsp buttermilk

• 1 tbsp dehydrated (minced) onions

• 2 tbsp fresh chopped dill

• 2 tbsp pickle juice

• ¼ tsp black pepper

• A pinch of onion salt

• A pinch of dried thyme

Fry Sauce – Serves 4-ish+

• ⅓ cup mayo

• 1 ¼ cup ketchup

• 2 tsp sugar

• 2 tsp pickle juice

So, there you go – two sauces, still part of the zeitgeist, and perfectly suitable for dipping.

NOTE: Proper Zip’s fries are crinkle-cut. I had none of those at hand, so don’t fry-shame me.

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Wikipedia: Zip’s Drive-in. Apr 25, 2024.

The Spokesman-Review: “Zip’s is the place to go when you need fast and cheap and filling food served with a side of nostalgia.” By Adriana Janovich. Apr 09, 2017.

There was a good Bon Appétit article about national media outlets not visiting restaurants before filming from way back when. I wasn’t able to track it down, but still, SpoCOOL is obviously a more trusted source than Bon Appétit.

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