Ryan Banks, 10, from left, Taylor Shier, 13, Daniel Hansen, 7, Shea Hansen and Bradley Shier, 11, eat free mint ice cream cones at O'Brady's Drive-In on St. Patrick's Day. For decades, the Dollars Corner restaurant has given away cones. This year, though, is "The Final Jig" because road construction is forcing the drive-in to close.Photo Gallery
O’Brady’s, which offers green ice cream cones each year, faces closure
DOLLARS CORNER — For one day each year, Fat Clancy hamburgers and 44-ounce milkshakes aren’t the most requested items at O’Brady’s Drive-In. On St. Patrick’s Day, free green soft-serve ice cream cones have reigned for decades.
And this year was no different, but it was likely the end of an era.
Hundreds of people flocked to the Dollars Corner restaurant Wednesday. Dozens of adults in green garb and children with shamrock-green hats with lime-green ribbons tied in their hair waited in line for mint flavored soft-serve cones. The line extended outside the green building and winded up and down the sidewalk. Traffic at Dollars Corner backed up as cars maneuvered in and out of the parking lot and jockeyed for parking spots.
While it seemed like a normal St. Patrick’s Day at the restaurant, full of Irish cheer and excitement, patrons also expressed a sense of sadness.
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This year wasn’t a typical O’Brady’s St. Paddy’s Fest. It was, as owner Susie Brady called it, “The Final Jig.”
Wednesday marked the final St. Patrick’s Day celebration at the drive-in’s current location at Dollars Corner. The Washington State Department of Transportation project to widen state Highway 502 from Interstate 5 to the city of Battle Ground is squeezing the restaurant out of its spot at 7111 N.E. 219th St. Brady said she plans to keep the restaurant open as long as possible.
“It’s just very sad. It’s been in our family so long,” said Brady, whose parents opened the restaurant in 1974. “I have a lot of memories from this place. I can’t imagine this place not being here.”
Several visitors to the drive-in Wednesday echoed Brady’s thoughts.
“It’ll kind of look lonely without it on the corner,” Battle Ground resident Joe Matz said.
“It’s part of the Battle Ground-Ridgefield history,” 17-year-old Bethany Mark said. “Everyone knows of O’Brady’s.”
A couple of teenage fans of O’Brady’s started a Facebook page, “Save O’Brady’s Restaurant on Dollars Corner,” when they learned of the closure earlier this month. The page has already attracted nearly 3,500 fans.
If Brady can help it, the restaurant will continue to be a part of the Battle Ground community. She hopes to use the money the state pays her for the building and land to relocate the restaurant to another site along Highway 502 (also known as Northeast 219th Street). But that will only be possible if she receives enough money to afford acquiring a new site and the move.
But judging by the turnout Wednesday, many people made the trip to O’Brady’s in case the restaurant doesn’t survive. Brady said the flow of visitors was constant from the moment the restaurant opened at 11 a.m. The soft-serve machines ran nonstop until closing time at 8 p.m., at times testing the old building’s electricity. Last year, the restaurant served 1,200 green-tinted cones — some vanilla, some mint and some a mix of both flavors and colors. This year, Brady was prepared to serve 2,000 cones.
Randy Weber, 34, took his six kids to O’Brady’s on Wednesday afternoon, just as his parents had taken him to the restaurant as a child. His children had been counting down the days until their visit for more than a week. He said Dollars Corner won’t be the same without the green building and neon sign with a giant ice cream cone.
“It’s just one of those icons of Battle Ground,” Weber said. “You think of Battle Ground and you think of O’Brady’s.”
Bob Peck and his wife, Nancy, moved to Battle Ground in 1958. They’ve attended O’Brady’s St. Paddy’s Fest nearly every year the restaurant has offered free cones.
“That’s just part of the day,” Bob Peck said, “always came to get the green ice cream cone.”
Nancy Peck said the restaurant has always been owned by and employed good people and offers its customers tasty food.
“They’re unique in the community. Nobody does this,” she said. “They’re going to be missed. It’s just one more tradition that’s going to disappear.”
