Vancouver’s White Spot Turns 85 and Offers Retro Menu
Photo sourced from Whitespot.ca
Are you ready to turn back the clock with Chicken Pick’ns, Triple Triple burgers and bumbleberry pie?
White Spot, Vancouver’s beloved homegrown burger joint, is turning 85 on July 16. In honour of the momentous occasion, they’re bringing back a retro menu from June 10-July 14 featuring some long lost classics from the restaurant’s early years.
In addition to the artery-challenging Triple Triple burger (that’s three patties slathered with Triple O sauce), White Spot will feature the snack that started it all: their BBQ Chicken Sandwich.
When the original White Spot drive-in opened in 1928 on Granville Street and 67th Avenue in Vancouver, beef was in short supply. So the restaurant earned its first loyal fans by serving chicken, not burgers, explains Mia Stainsby in a great article for the Vancouver Sun.
Over the years, of course, White Spot moved firmly into burger country. By the 1950s, more than 100,000 customers a week were gobbling down favourites like Legendary and Double Double burgers dressed up with the ever-mysterious Triple O sauce (a blend of mayo, relish and other secret ingredients).
During those golden days, car hops would carry orders right to diners’ cars on trays that rested on the windows. In fact, you can still get car hop service to this day at a few White Spots scattered around the Lower Mainland.
In more recent years, White Spot has grown and changed alongside Vancouver. There are now 64 White Spot restaurants and 62 fast-food-style Triple Os across Canada and around the world, serving some 17 million customers a year. Burgers remain a mainstay, but the menu has also expanded into more contemporary terrain, offering everything from tandoori cauliflower quinoa salads to teriyaki chicken rice bowls and an entire gluten-free menu.
Some things haven’t changed, however. You can still get old school classics, from the Spot’s Fish Chips and crispy buttermilk chicken to the enormous roast turkey dinner. And the atmosphere, too, is still from a whole different era.
While Vancouver’s current wave of grills and gastropubs is all about chic ambiance, moody lighting and beautiful people, White Spot is still pretty much just about the food. Servers are friendly. Prices are moderate. And the vibe is totally unpretentious. After 85 years, White Spot doesn’t really have much left to prove to anyone.
White Spot’s retro menu is only around from June 10-July 14, so line up for those fabulous Chicken Pick’ns while you can.
Got some classic White Spot memories? Please share below.
For more updates on White Spot, Vancouver and beyond, follow me on Twitter @RemyScalza.
Article source: http://www.insidevancouver.ca/2013/06/10/vancouvers-own-white-spot-turns-85-and-offers-retro-menu/
