History Reimagined

Iconic Seattle waterfront restaurant makes a splash with most significant remodel in 78-year history.

By Bob Donegan

After a 273-day closure due to the Seattle Seawall Project construction, Seattle’s original waterfront restaurant, Ivar’s Acres of Clams and Fish Bar, reopened in July 2015 after a $20 million renovation, which completely overhauled the restaurant’s interior and updated the pier on which the restaurant itself sits.

This has been a long and extensive process to completely transform and modernize not only Ivar’s Acres of Clams and our Fish Bar, but Pier 54 as well. Ivar’s started as a single fish bar in 1938 and now has multiple operations on the pier.

In addition to the physical renovation, Ivar’s Acres of Clams’ executive chef, Chris Garr, has spent the last several months developing new menu items in the renovated kitchen, which is double the size of the previous version to allow for more seamless and expanded operations.

The new Ivar’s Acres of Clams pays homage to its historical roots with a wharf-themed atmosphere, including original exposed beams, walnut blasted fir-lined ceiling and industrial lighting fixtures that exposes, expresses and celebrates the bones of the pier. It also features more dining possibilities than ever before with seating for more than 600 guests throughout the entire restaurant including the dining room, and a large centralized bar and private dining space — aptly named after the Kalakala ferry. Ivar’s has also added a new outdoor dining patio deck with seating for more than 140, complete with fireside tables and retractable awnings for al fresco dining in the shade or sun.

Throughout the interior, guests will spot historical touches, including the much-talked-about underwater billboard, a refurbished Galbraith-Bacon & Co. sign painted by the pier’s original tenants from 1900, photos and vintage film clips of Ivar Haglund through the years and much more.

The adjoining quick-service Fish Bar also received a major refresh with expanded and improved dining area for more than 230 guests, along with a newly designed ordering window and quick-serve kitchen. Guests that visit the Fish Bar can still feed French fries to the seagulls, which has been a tradition since the Fish Bar opened more than 77 years ago.

In addition to the interior renovation, the 55,000-square-foot pier received a revamp, including reinforcement of more than 180,000 pounds of galvanized steel and 760 tons of concrete, the addition of retail space, 20,000 square feet of office space, new LED lighting to provide better illumination while using 80% less power, and an upgraded exterior envelope to greatly reduce heating and cooling needs.

Many of the pier’s changes meant taking extra steps to ensure that the surrounding environment was sound, including sanding the exposed fir beams and ceilings with walnut shells and replacing wooden pilings with galvanized steel to avoid harming Ivar’s fish friends in the Puget Sound, utilizing reclaimed railroad rails throughout the space, and keeping lookouts on site to guarantee the renovation did not negatively impact whale or sea lion migration to Elliott Bay.

— As the president of Ivar’s Restaurants, Bob Donegan manages Ivar’s Seafood Soup and Sauce Company and oversees the maintenance, information technology, marketing and human resources departments for Ivar’s.