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Johnny's History

Johnny's Dock Restaurant has been an imprtant feature of the Tacoma Tideflats since its opening by John E. Meaker in December of 1953. Mr. Meaker had been in the meat cutting and restarant business since 1915 when he apprenticed as a meat cutter in Seattle's Pike Place Market. In 1921 he openend a butcher shop with his father at the corner of First and Pike and over the next ten years they continued to run the butcher shop and openend two restaurants in Seattle and one at Grand Coulee, WA during the construction of the Grand Coulee Dam.

In 1932 he moved the butcher shop to the Queen City Market at Fourth and Pine, and in 1937 he moved the ship to the Bell Street Terminal where the operation supplied the maritime trade and institutions, as well as retail customers.

In 1940 he opened Crawford's Sea Grill on Elliott Avenue in the building later used as Ivar's Captain's Table. In 1944 he sold the restaruants and the meat business and moved to Tacoma to open Crawford's Sea Grill on Upper Broadway. In 1952 he sold all of his businesses and retired.

Coming out of retirement in 1953 he opened Johnny's Dock at Pier 3 on the Tideflats. Johnny's Dock at Pier 3 was destroyed by fire on Christmas Eve 1961 and was rebuilt with slight modifications and continued to operate at that location for 16 years. Then in 1977 the Port of Tacoma reclaimed the land for the new container terminal. At that time the restaurant moved to an all new building at our present location on "D" Street.

Johnny's Restaurants in Tacoma have included: Crawford's Sea Grill, Johnny's Dock, Johnny's on the Mall, Johnny's at Fife, Johnny's Shrimp Houses, and Dock Street Landing

Since 1956 Johnny's Fine Foods has produced a full line of salad dressings and Chef-Blended seasonings, including: Jamaica Mistake Salad Dressing, Salad Elegance, and Johnny's Seasoning salt, that are available in retail markets throughout the US, Canada, and worldwide.