Ivar's Timeline

...Surrounded by Acres of Clams.

One day Ivar was approached by two West Seattle friends, Bob and Farley. They wanted to put up a counter and sell fish and chips at the aquarium. Nothing fancy, just a small deep fryer, with an ice chest for soft drinks. They wanted to handle the fish bar and pay Ivar a percentage of their sales as rent. He agreed, and the first fish bar opened on Pier 3, now Pier 54.

The fish bar prospered to a degree and Ivar enjoyed a small percentage of the profits, but did not consider the fish bar anything more than a novelty. Eventually it closed.

Ivar discussed the restaurant idea with friends. Some encouraged him to go ahead, but most were against it. It was no secret then, as it is today, that new restaurants have a notoriously high failure rate. Losses can be tremendous. The person who most influenced him to start the business was his father in-law, Harry M. Butler. Harry was a short, thin, gray-haired gent in his early seventies. He had more than 20 years experience operating hotel dining rooms, restaurants, and resorts for the Westin Hotel. When Ivar applied for a loan, the bank asked if he had any experience in the restaurant business. His response was typically Ivar. He could have tried to use Roy and Farley's fish bar as experience. It would have been grasping at straws, but then again it would have at least been something to fill the blank loan application. Instead he left the application form as it was and told the bank's officers openly, "I don't have any experience, but my father-in-law does." No hedging. No baloney. The loan was approved.

The name Ivar's Acres of Clams came from the last verse of "The Old Settler."

No longer a slave to ambition
I laugh at the world and its shams
As I survey my happy condition
Surrounded by acres of clams.

The name had good public recognition, since Ivar had been singing it on the radio for eight years. His original idea was to build a very high-class waterfront restaurant. French chef, fancy menus, the works. It was advertised as "modern and streamlined." What was a modern, streamlined restaurant like in 1946? Well, it had "all electric equipment." That included an an electric range, and electric fryer, and, last but not least, and electric hot-water heater. Pretty modern stuff back then. Ivar described Acres of Clams in the following way:" It has a legitimate, rather than arty, nautical motif, with arresting soft blues and whites both inside and out. The walls feature vivid murals of ducks, pheasants, and gulls." House specialties included Lobster Thermidor and Oysters Rockefeller. Now, if you think all this sounds a little elegant and not much like the Acres of Clams you remember, you're right. It isn't. It's how the restaurant you remember started.




An early photo of Ivar's Acres of Clams ~ 1939 Previous \| Next		...Surrounded by Acres of Clams. One day Ivar was approached by two West Seattle friends, Bob and Farley. They wanted to put up a counter and sell fish and chips at the aquarium. Nothing fancy, just a small deep fryer, with an ice chest for soft drinks. They wanted to handle the fish bar and pay Ivar a percentage of their sales as rent. He agreed, and the first fish bar opened on Pier 3, now Pier 54. The fish bar prospered to a degree and Ivar enjoyed a small percentage of the profits, but did not consider the fish bar anything more than a novelty. Eventually it closed. Ivar discussed the restaurant idea with friends. Some encouraged him to go ahead, but most were against it. It was no secret then, as it is today, that new restaurants have a notoriously high failure rate. Losses can be tremendous. The person who most influenced him to start the business was his father in-law, Harry M. Butler. Harry was a short, thin, gray-haired gent in his early seventies. He had more than 20 years experience operating hotel dining rooms, restaurants, and resorts for the Westin Hotel. When Ivar applied for a loan, the bank asked if he had any experience in the restaurant business. His response was typically Ivar. He could have tried to use Roy and Farley's fish bar as experience. It would have been grasping at straws, but then again it would have at least been something to fill the blank loan application. Instead he left the application form as it was and told the bank's officers openly, "I don't have any experience, but my father-in-law does." No hedging. No baloney. The loan was approved. The name Ivar's Acres of Clams came from the last verse of "The Old Settler." No longer a slave to ambition I laugh at the world and its shams As I survey my happy condition Surrounded by acres of clams. The name had good public recognition, since Ivar had been singing it on the radio for eight years. His original idea was to build a very high-class waterfront restaurant. French chef, fancy menus, the works. It was advertised as "modern and streamlined." What was a modern, streamlined restaurant like in 1946? Well, it had "all electric equipment." That included an an electric range, and electric fryer, and, last but not least, and electric hot-water heater. Pretty modern stuff back then. Ivar described Acres of Clams in the following way:" It has a legitimate, rather than arty, nautical motif, with arresting soft blues and whites both inside and out. The walls feature vivid murals of ducks, pheasants, and gulls." House specialties included Lobster Thermidor and Oysters Rockefeller. Now, if you think all this sounds a little elegant and not much like the Acres of Clams you remember, you're right. It isn't. It's how the restaurant you remember started.
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