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When a group of restaurants like Salty’s hit the 25-year mark, you’ve got to know there’s a plan and a driving force behind the success. In this case, it’s Gerry Kingen and his vision for both guests and employees. Seattle DINING! talked with Gerry, his wife Kathy and the Managing Partner at Salty’s on Alki, Bonnie David.

Photo: Gerry & Kathy Kingen with happy fish

Gerry may be more familiar to you as the man who started the Red Robin chain, but his restaurant history goes back even further. He grew up in the business with parents who owned the Airport Inn, the Roadside Inn, Kingen’s Drive In and Kingen’s Steakhouse. He put a lot of hours in at the restaurants. "I was cheap labor," Gerry laughs, "and it kept me off the streets."

Clearly understanding his destiny, he went to college to become a dentist. During summers, he ran the food service program at Moffits at Snoqualmie Pass where he had 70 people working for him. It took a few missteps before he came to the conclusions every manager faces: you can’t be their friend, you can’t do all the work yourself, you have to set clear expectations and if they don’t follow them, there have to be consequences.

Eventually the dentist idea ran its course and he bought a tavern called the Riverside Gardens and renamed it the Climax Tavern. He later bought a small tavern in the University District called Red Robin, built another tavern and called it the Warehouse (music here included a young local band named Heart), bought the Blue Moon Tavern (has anyone not owned this place?), built Boondock’s on Capitol Hill, then Lion O’Reilly’s. He’s also responsible for the Great American Food & Beverage Co. that turned into the Lake Union Café.

Gerry fixed up the Red Robin tavern (with a little push from the City) in 1973. He added steaks and fish to the menu. As he explains, "At the time, there was a limited number of liquor licenses allowed. Then the bar scene exploded and people hopped to new bars. If you wanted them to stay at your place, you had to do something different." In 1976, he added cocktails with crazy names like "Sand in Your Shorts" and all kinds of crazy-named burgers. The burgers tripled the volume of business and the rest is history. As Kathy says, "It was a time when mom and pop stores turned into chain stores. He was at the beginning of that."

In the meantime, he was also involved in the real estate business in Portland and was developing a property in 1980 that would have a marina, condos and a restaurant on the Willamette River. It was a time when names were long in an attempt to get people to remember the place (i.e., Lion O’Reilly’s and B.J. Monkeyshines, Boondock’s Sundeckers and Greenthumbs). He named the restaurant Salty Pickerel & Angus McHereford. Another location came up in Redondo, Washington in 1981 and in went another Salty Pickerel. The public shortened the name to Salty’s.

In 1985, the Beach Broiler in West Seattle was purchased and Salty’s on Alki was created. In 1987, a second Portland Salty’s was opened, this time on the Columbia River. In 1990, Salty’s at the Falls was opened in Spokane. Eventually two locations closed. Salty’s on the Willamette lost its lease in 1991 and the City of Spokane bought out Salty’s at the Falls in 1996, leaving the three current locations.

With the three Salty’s doing well, the Kingens sold everything else and took time for themselves. Unfortunately, the person left in charge embezzled a million dollars from the company. Needless to say, Gerry and Kathy got back in the game and have been much more hands on in the past few years. "It’s been great for me," says Bonnie. "I’ve learned more in the past two years than in my whole career. We’ve given the title CMO (Chief Mothering Officer) to Kathy. They’re both very involved."

What have been the lessons learned over the years? "It has to be fun," Gerry says. "The most fun I’ve had is in re-inventing and refining. I love to see the potential for making something better than it is and making it happen. As a company grows, someone has to have a tender grip on the rudder. I have people around me who are smarter than me, but I like to stir the pot." Bonnie adds, "The entrepreneur has to stay in the mix. The bean counters can’t be left in complete charge or the spirit of a place goes away."

"My biggest lesson has been about persistence," adds Gerry. "I have had my butt kicked thoroughly several times, but the good news is that if you fall on your face, you’re still moving forward."

Gerry, Kathy and Bonnie agree that you have to be focused on satisfying customer demand and their ever-changing tastes. "The difference here is our relationship with the guest," says Bonnie. Gerry agrees. "We’re human. We make mistakes. But if we screw up, we fix it in spades. We have great recovery skills."

Salty’s has a serious staff training program that emphasizes making the guest happy (in fact, the company name is Happy Guests International, Inc.). They supply cards that team members carry with them, filled with information like their motto, philosophy and credo. Each team member gets a handbook that touches on every aspect of their employment as well as how they should treat guests. No one will fail here due to lack of communication. It’s a lesson Gerry has learned well over the years.

Currently, Salty’s is on a two-to-three year journey to meet the gross potential at all three locations. As Gerry explains, "The economy is still stressed and people don’t always have the money to splurge on a big dinner, but they’d like to come to Salty’s. So we’re revamping our Alki location to meet that need. The main dining room will stay close to what it is now, with new furniture and fixtures. We’ll install an entire patio system with fireplaces and a gazebo and a fish bar downstairs where people can have a meal for $10-15. The bar will have greenhouse glass that can be opened, it will have expanded seating capacity as well as a fireplace. We’ll add a robata bar with sushi and an apothecary bar. The Admiral’s Stateroom downstairs will gain an extra 20 seats for private parties." In addition, the bakery and kitchen downstairs will be expanded.

Photo above: a fishy view of downtown Seattle from Salty's on Alki in West Seattle

Owning a restaurant isn’t a static operation. "If you like constant change, this is the place for you," laughs Bonnie. "I never know what the day will offer when I come in." Despite how busy the Salty’s grills are, Gerry and Kathy are balancing their lives thoughtfully. "We don’t do leading edge now. I’m 62 and I want to do fun stuff. Salty’s does great things, but we aren’t looking at new concepts—we choose not to plug into that again," says Gerry. Kathy feels like there’s a return to the past in some ways. "We’re almost back to a new breed of mom & pop," she says. At the moment, there are no plans for more Salty’s, but that doesn’t mean it won’t happen. "It has to be just the right opportunity," says Gerry, "we can’t do less than what we’ve already done."

Of course, despite all that balancing talk, there is the redevelopment of six acres of real estate called The Station at SeaTac with commercial retail, parking and residences. Maybe the Kingen’s won’t ever completely slow down.

Connie Adams/June 2006

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