18 Famous Food Brands That Started in Washington State

Cinnabon

The original Cinnabon shop opened in 1985 in SeaTac Mall, which is now The Commons at Federal Way. Edmonds baker Jerilyn Brusseau came up with the recipe when asked to create a cinnamon roll worthy of a national chain. Cinnabon can now be found all over the country and even in several locations in Europe. Most franchisees use frozen dough. The Bellevue Square shop still makes its own.

Red Robin

It all started with Sam’s Tavern in 1940 on Capitol Hill. Sam’s Tavern was rebranded Sam’s Red Robin in 1942, and then rebranded again in 1969 when Gerry Kingen purchased the business. He dropped the “Sam’s” from the name and decided to focus on burgers. The first franchise opened in Yakima in 1979. The headquarters has since moved out of Seattle to Colorado.

There are currently more than 500 restaurants across the US and Canada, but it all started on Capitol Hill as a humble tavern.

Ivar’s

Ivar Haglund was a folk singer who built Seattle’s first aquarium on Pier 54 in 1938. He noticed that his visitors were getting hungry while visiting, so he began selling red clam chowder and fish and chips on the side. The aquarium eventually closed, but the restaurant didn’t. There are now 18 quick-serve seafood bars belonging to Ivar’s scattered across the Puget Sound area and concession stands at T-Mobile Park, Lumen Field, Cheney Stadium, and Husky Stadium. The clam chowder has been a local favorite since the Eisenhower administration.

Starbucks

Seattle, 1971. The original shop at 2000 Western Ave. sold whole roasted coffee beans, nothing brewed. Howard Schultz didn’t join until 1982, and the espresso bar idea came even later, after a fateful trip to Milan. The original building was demolished in 1976, forcing the move to the Pike Place location, which is still in business to this day. The place draws people from all over who come to visit the oldest-running Starbucks. That tells you something about the cultural impact.

For some, Starbucks is a source of local pride. For others, it’s a cautionary tale about going corporate and losing your identity in the process. Either way, no one could have predicted how one small coffee shop in Seattle went on to become one of the most recognizable brands on the planet.

Redhook Brewery

Founded in 1981 by Paul Shipman and Gordon Bowker, the same Bowker who co-founded Starbucks, Redhook Brewery got its start in a former transmission shop in Ballard. Their initial offering was a spicy Belgian-style ale that Seattle drinkers often said tasted like bananas. They sold fewer than 1,000 barrels the first year, continued to try new brews, and went on to become one of the original American craft breweries. In 1994, Anheuser-Busch purchased 25 percent of the company, which is now owned by Tilray.

Oberto Snacks

Founded by Constantino Oberto in 1918, this small Seattle shop originally sold Italian sausages. The beef jerky came later, but went on to become the main attraction. Oberto Snacks was acquired by Premium Brands Holdings Corporation in 2018 and is no longer family-owned. The company is now headquartered in Kent, Washington. Their jerky has been on gas station shelves and in grocery stores across the country for decades. Far from glamorous, Oberto has remained loyal to its roots while achieving national success.

Chateau Ste. Michelle

Chateau Ste. Michelle is the oldest winery in the state, dating back to 1934 when several companies raced to establish a respectable wine industry in Washington after Prohibition ended. The name Chateau Ste. Michelle came from a merger in 1954, and a later reorganization saw the Woodinville estate becoming its flagship property. The winery produces well over two million cases per year, making it one of the biggest in the country.

The tasting room in Woodinville is worth a visit if you’re in the area, and their summer concert series has been running for years.

Theo Chocolate

Founded in 2006, Theo was the first organic, fair-trade, bean-to-bar chocolate factory in the United States. They operate out of the old Redhook Brewery building in Fremont, which Redhook vacated in 1998 before Theo took it over eight years later. Their bars come in a wide range of flavors and are sold all over the country. The tour of the factory is surprisingly good, so you may want to consider it if you’re in the area and have some time to kill.

Sparkling Ice

Talking Rain launched in Bellevue back in 1987, introducing its Sparkling Ice in 1992. For a long time, it was a quiet regional brand that most people outside the Pacific Northwest hadn’t heard of. That changed around 2012, when the flavored sparkling water market took off. Sparkling Ice was suddenly everywhere. The company signed Kevin Durant as an endorser in 2014 and made the Inc. 5000 list multiple times. It’s still headquartered in Preston, a small town east of Bellevue that most people couldn’t place on a Washington map.

Krusteaz

Continental Mills was founded in Seattle in 1932 by Rose Charters and later renamed The Krusteaz Company after the brand’s first product, “krusteaz pie crust.” The pancake mix came later and became what everyone knows them for. According to their website, a box of Krusteaz Buttermilk Pancake Mix is sold every other second across the US. Its headquarters have since moved to Tukwila, but Krusteaz got its start right here in Seattle.

Darigold

The Darigold cooperative traces back to 1918, when Pacific Northwest dairy farmers banded together under the Northwest Dairymen’s Association. Darigold is the consumer-facing brand. It has been a regular in Pacific Northwest refrigerators ever since. The Seattle-based cooperative still operates as a farmer-owned organization, supplying milk, butter, and cheese across the western US.

Sahale Snacks

Two outdoor enthusiasts from Seattle created Sahale in 2003, getting the idea after climbing Mount Rainier. Their goal was to create trail mix that didn’t taste like something out of a vending machine. The Tukwila-based company grew steadily, and their product ended up all over America, in Costco, airports, gas stations, and natural grocery chains. Their bars hold up quite well as a hiking snack, with the glazed nut blends being their signature product. The company was acquired by J.M. Smucker in 2014.

Dick’s Drive-In

Dick Spady and his two partners opened their first restaurant on 45th Street in Wallingford in 1954, the same year that McDonald’s opened its first franchise location. Dick’s Drive-In currently has six locations in Seattle, with no intention of expanding further. It’s a strange choice for a fast food company and also probably the reason why they’re so beloved by the locals. Good burgers, good fries, and reasonable prices. A true Seattle classic.

MOD Pizza

MOD Pizza opened in Seattle back in 2008. Scott and Ally Svenson based their business on the idea of customizable assembly-line pizzas sold at a fixed price. It sounds obvious now, but hindsight’s twenty-twenty. At the time it was a new concept. MOD grew fast through the 2010s, hitting over 500 locations across the United States and the United Kingdom before running into some financial issues in the early 2020s. The Seattle origins are real, and the original location at Capitol Hill is still operating.

Beecher’s Handmade Cheese

Beecher’s Handmade Cheese was founded by Kurt Beecher Dammeier at Pike Place Market in 2003, with the cheesemaking process happening behind glass so everyone could see it as it happened. The Flagship Reserve cheddar and the mac and cheese made with it became their main attraction, quickly spreading through word of mouth. Beecher’s can now be found beyond Seattle, in their New York location, or in any Whole Foods Market throughout the country.

Almond Roca (by Brown & Haley)

Brown & Haley was founded by Harry Brown and J.C. Haley in Tacoma back in 1914. Almond Roca was introduced in 1923 and has been a holiday classic ever since. It’s a buttercrunch toffee, wrapped in gold foil and packaged in pink tins. They’re still made in Tacoma and are sold in more than 50 countries around the world. You don’t have to be from Washington to know the candy, but you can take pride in knowing they’re a local treat.

Carnation

In 1899, Elbridge Stuart and his business partner purchased a bankrupt condensery in Kent and formed Pacific Coast Condensed Milk Company. The name came later, after Stuart passed a tobacconist’s window in downtown Seattle and noticed a sign reading “Carnation.” He liked it and took the name for the company. Then, an entire town in Snoqualmie Valley adopted it after Stuart established Carnation Farms there in 1910.

Nestlé acquired the brand in 1985, and Carnation now sells evaporated milk, hot cocoa mix, and coffee creamer worldwide. Carnation got its start in Washington and has since become part of its history.

Fisher Scones

Fisher Flour Mills was founded in Seattle in 1910, starting its milling operations on Harbor Island the very next year. To promote its flour, the company began serving scones at fairs, starting at the Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco in 1915 and then, more importantly, at the Puyallup Fair in Washington. The same corner booth under the grandstand where those first scones were sold is still there. Fisher has sold over 100 million scones since, and the mix is available in grocery stores throughout the state.