75 Years Strong: Ivar's Celebrates Landmark Anniversary with $7.50 Specials and Promotions

SEATTLE, Sept. 24, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Earlier this month Ivar's released its first ever cookbook to kick off the Seattle seafood restaurant's 75^th anniversary. Now through Nov. 17, Ivar's will continue the shell-ebration with $7.50 dining deals, rotating menu specials from the cookbook, a new "surprise" ad campaign and a variety of seaworthy culinary, cookbook and charity events.  

Anniversary Dining Deals and Promotions

• $7.50 Dining Deals: Ivar's Seafood Bars and full-service restaurants, including Ivar's Acres of Clams, Ivar's Salmon House and Ivar's Mukilteo Landing will offer $7.50 food and drink specials through Nov. 17. Sample specials include: 3-piece Sole n' chips with Cole Slaw; Alder Smoked Salmon Cakes with Heirloom Tomato Roasted Garlic Relish and Baby Frisee; and for cocktails, "The 1938 Special" with Bulleit Bourbon, apricot brandy, black walnut bitters, ginger ale, lemon-lime soda and an orange twist. For a full list of deals, visit Ivar's website.
• 75th Dinner: On Oct. 24 at 6 p.m., Ivar's Salmon House will host an anniversary dinner celebration. The $75 five-course meal (featuring recipes from Ivar's Cookbook) includes wine pairings, autographed copy of the cookbook, and, of course, a stunning downtown view. Call 206-632-0767 to reserve.
• Ivar's Cookbook Menu Specials: Now through Nov. 17, Ivar's full-service restaurants will showcase best-of recipes from the company's new seafood cookbook, rotating delicious dishes on its fresh sheets every few weeks. Menu recipes will include gourmet favorites such as Yellow Tomato Gazpacho, Cedar Planked Sockeye Salmon with Hazelnut Vinaigrette, Possession Sound Seafood Stew and many more.

Additional Anniversary Activities

• Ivar's Gives Back: Ivar's has a rich history of supporting the surrounding community for the past 75 years, and its anniversary year is no exception. On Oct. 15 and 29, Ivar's will donate all proceeds to Northwest Harvest, Washington's only statewide food bank distributor, serving more than 20 million meals per year, and to the Seattle Aquarium with its mission of "inspiring conservation of our marine environment," respectively.
• Cookbook Signings: Ivar's President Bob Donegan and Ivar's culinary staff are playing host to a variety of cookbook signing events throughout the fall. During the signings, seafood fans will get a sneak peek inside the colorful pages of the cookbook, and are able to purchase autographed copies, sample recipes from the cookbook, enter to win prizes and meet Ivar's famous Dancing Clam. For a full list of events, visit Ivar's website.
• Keep a Lookout: Known for its quirky roots and publicity stunts over the last seven decades, Ivar's will stay true to what its fans have come to expect with a new ad campaign slated to debut by the end of September. What's in store? Just wait and see.

Ivar's Historical Legacy
Ivar's began with one very entrepreneurial spirit – the late Ivar Haglund. Haglund was a true Seattle icon, known as an entertainer, folksinger, restaurateur and ultimately, the "King" of the Seattle waterfront. In 1938, Haglund opened Seattle's first aquarium on Pier 54. As droves of people lined up to view the Puget Sound sea life Haglund had collected, he noticed his patrons were working up an appetite. Haglund quickly began to sell clam chowder and fish n' chips from what is now known as Ivar's Pier 54 Fish Bar.

Always devising new attention-getting capers, Ivar staged a number of famous pranks and masterminded numerous stunts in his time, including the visit to Santa with Patsy the Seal in 1940,  international clam eating contests, and an Ivar clam stamp caper in 1960 (later revoked by the U.S. Postal Service). He was also a regular with Captain Puget on KJR and KIRO radio stations, as well as the JP Patches children's television program. Ivar passed away in 1985, just shy of his 80^th birthday. The crew at Ivar's carried on his antics in the years that followed with the Dances with Clams commercial in 1991, the shortest Super Bowl commercial in television history and the discovery of Ivar's Underwater Billboards in Puget Sound in 2009, and many more.

Fast Facts

• Around 1950, Ivar's Acres of Clams offered a "Fish and Chips, Plenty" dinner for just $1.35, which included a cocktail, chowder and the fish n' chips entree.
• If Ivar's stacked the cups of clam chowder it sold in 2012 as high as the Space Needle, it would be the equivalent of 3,199 Space Needles high (or the height of about 134 Mount Rainiers).
• In 2012, CenturyLink and Safeco Fields combined sold more than 60,000 cups of chowder, 20,000 pounds of cod, and 75,000 orders of fish-and-chips.
• Ivar's has about 850 year-round employees, and the number floats toward 1,200 in the summers, when many of the cruise ships and sports teams are in town.
• During the holidays, Ivar's Seafood, Soup & Sauce Company makes as many as 5,000 gallons of chowder each day.
• At each of Ivar's seafood bars, where the typical customer visits once every 10 days, management asks each manager and assistant manager to know the name and regular order of his or her 100 best customers, as well as something personal.
• Every year Ivar's sells almost 2 million orders of cod-and-chips.
• According to the Port of Seattle Reporter in 1946, Ivar's clam-eating contest received more press for Seattle worldwide than the Husky football team, the Seattle Art Museum, and the University of Washington combined.

For the full schedule of events and to keep afloat with details on the 75^th anniversary festivities and dining promotions, visit www.Ivars.com, follow Ivar's on Twitter and Pinterest, and "Like" the o-fish-al Facebook page.

About Ivar's
Ivar's began selling seafood on Seattle's waterfront in 1938. Today, there are 24 Ivar's fast casual Seafood Bars and three full-service restaurants: Ivar's Acres of Clams, Ivar's Salmon House and Ivar's Mukilteo Landing. Ivar's Seafood, Soup and Sauce Company markets and sells its award-winning soups, chowders and sauces both nationally and internationally. The company also operates regional stadium concessions including Safeco Field, CenturyLink Field, KeyArena, Cheney Stadium and Husky Stadium. Learn more at www.Ivars.com.

SOURCE Ivar’s