After years of anticipation, Ivar’s Seafood Bar is set to make its long-awaited debut in Gig Harbor.
The restaurant will take over the former Lunchbox Laboratory spot at 4901 Point Fosdick Drive when it opens next year.
Bob Donegan, president of Ivar’s, joined the company in 1997. In the years following, he told What Now Seattle the team developed a real estate site selection model to identify neighborhoods suited for Ivar’s. Gig Harbor emerged as one of the top contenders.
The real estate model showed Donegan needed 30,000 daytime workers within a mile to support lunch sales and 30,000 households within three miles to support dinner. When Lunchbox vacated the space and the rent became affordable, he knew it was the ideal location.
“It’s south of Seattle and west of Tacoma. A close-in suburb, high demographics, lots of housing developed in the last 20 years. As the population has grown, it’s become more and more appropriate as a site for a seafood bar,” Donegan said.
A typical Ivar’s Seafood Bar is about 2,000 square feet, but the new Gig Harbor location will nearly double that at 3,695 square feet. With a larger space and kitchen, the outpost will feature its own unique flair.
“In addition to the seafood company, we also own one of the premier hamburger companies in Puget Sound called Kidd Valley. We will add the best elements of Kidd Valley’s menu to the menu in this store,” he said.
Another standout feature of the restaurant is its 19 1⁄2-foot ceilings, compared with 11 to 13 feet in other Ivar’s outposts.
“We have a gigantic wall that’s calling for big images of historic Iver’s and historic Gig Harbor. There will be all kinds of Gig Harbor things in the store,” Donegan said.
Donegan is eager to introduce the Gig Harbor location to an entirely new audience.
“This is our first store in 25 years that’s on the peninsula. We’re opening up a whole new market to serve people who are a ferry ride away from our stores in downtown Seattle,” he said. “We think it’ll be good for the community and stuff that tends to be good for the community, tends to be good for us.”
Ivar’s will open its doors in February.
“We’ve already begun discussing with organizations that would come and cut the ribbon. We do promotions when we open where the first couple of days, the food is free. If people want to make a donation, it’ll go into one of the charities that we partner with,” he said.
Ivar Haglund founded Ivar’s, which now operates 18 fast-casual seafood bars and three full-service waterfront restaurants: Ivar’s Acres of Clams, Ivar’s Salmon House and Ivar’s Mukilteo Landing.
For updates, visit the Ivar’s Seafood Bar website and follow along on Instagram and Facebook.
