Why doesn't Seattle have any world-class waterfront restaurants, establishments whose food is as good as its view? Short answer: because it doesn't really have to.
With a fair amount of fanfare, Seattle's "big three" iconic view restaurants have put themselves through remodels and rebrandings within the past few months: Salty's on Alki, Palisade, and Ray's Boathouse. How successful have they been? We'll take a look over the next three days.
In 1985, Gerry Kingen bought a tumbledown waterfront building then called the Beach Broiler on West Seattle's Harbor Avenue, two and a half miles across Elliott Bay from downtown. and added it to his portfolio of seafood restaurants in Portland and the South Sound. "It's a million-dollar view," says Kingen. More to the point, Salty's on Alki is a $10 million-plus a year restaurant, in the top 100 nationwide, second only to the Space Needle's restaurant, Sky City.
If guests are forking over $60 and up at the top of the Needle, the average is $50 at Salty's, but an eater can get away with $20 for lunch. Salty's has a well-developed catering business with as many seats (on the lower level) as the ballrooms of Seattle's downtown hotels. It also offers a popular weekend brunch, with plenty of crab and shrimp. Best of all, Salty's sits on prime real estate, leading to speculation that the underused space (like the parking lots) would be an ideal site for a small, luxury hotel.
Of the Big Three, Salty's is probably in the best position to weather the storms of fickle public opinion. Earlier in his career Kingen had launched the Red Robin concept of gourmet burgers. The guy who started the Blue Moon Tavern, Boondock's, and Lion O'Reilly's also has another project up his sleeve: barbecue. He and his wife, Kathy, partners in the family business, have bought out Pecos Pit, the 'cue joint in Sodo, and plan to spread the concept throughout Seattle. Their daughter, Kate, currently with DeutscheBank in New York, will return to pilot the project. All they need is some seed money, which they'll raise by selling a sliver of the Alki waterfront.
To stay in touch with the Salty's client base, the Kingens have compiled an email list of 100,000 names. From time to time, if that's what their clientele wants, they'll change the color of the napkins, but they are more interested in stressing the value of that buffet of crab legs. It's not just tourists, either; up to two thirds of the guests are pretty much local. That's the flip side of the Space Needle's business model. "Chasing the margins isn't worth it," Kingen told me last year. "We were lazy and comfortable. But people either remember you or are forgetting you."
Salty's doesn't buy traditional advertising but has made a big investment in training its staff. "We want them to share their knowledge, sense of adventure and excitement. The world is in a state of change, and if you're not paying attention [as a restaurant operator], people are either remembering you or forgetting you." The story--and it's always about the story--is that Salty's is a family-owned restaurant that listens. Gerry Kingen has a goal, and it's to be among the top 50 restaurants in the country. In a doublespeak that might remind a listener of car commercials, he wants to be "best in class." His eye is on Sky City (on the left of your panoramic view out the restaurant's windows). The Needle's problem: "Too many dishes," he believes.
Tomorrow: Palisade.
Salty's on Alki, 1936 Harbor Ave. SW, Seattle, 206-937-1600 
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