We heard the rumor over the weekend, so did the Seattle Times columnist Nancy Leson: Red Mill Burgers is eying the old Totem House location across from the Ballard Locks. Leson confirms that John Shepherd, the owner of Red Mill, and his sister/business partner, Babe, are indeed interested in the location.
“We want to save the Seattle icon,” Shepherd tells Leson. “We want to put in top-quality fish, sell halibut fish n’ chips, add five or six Red Mill signature burgers, Babe’s onion rings and restore all the totem poles and the whole building. It would be an awesome thing to do.”
So far the Shepherds have not heard from the current owner of the Totem House, which closed suddenly at the end of 2010. Red Mill Burgers currently has two other locations in Seattle. One on Phinney Ridge, one in Interbay.
You can read Leson’s entire article here. (Thanks @rainydaygal1 for the Tweet and SeattleRichardson for posting in the forum!)