Renton hopes to be the new home for Dick’s Drive-In

The Seattle-based burger chain is letting the public decide where the new location should be.

Will Renton be the new home for Dick’s Drive-In? It very well could be.

The celebrated Seattle-based burger chain is letting the public decide where its seventh store should be located — south or east side.

Potential southside cities include Renton, Burien, SeaTac, Tukwila, Kent, Auburn, Normandy Park, Des Moines, Federal Way, West Seattle or South Seattle. Eastside cities include Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland, Bothell, Mercer Island, Issaquah, Sammamish and Woodinville.

The online poll — found at http://www.ddir.com/ — will run through Friday, March 24. After casting a vote, voters can email newlocation@ddir.com or post on Dick’s social media accounts regarding which particular city they would like to see the franchise set up camp.

Renton officials are hoping for the possibility that Renton could win the jackpot.

“We are very excited about the possibility of having a Dick’s Drive-In location in Renton,” said Renton’s Economic Development Director Cliff Long in an email. “Their current contest asks people to vote for an east side location or one in the south. We think Renton is the best of both. So now until March 26 we are asking everyone to “vote South” and “vote Renton!”

As of 10 a.m. on March 7 (and over 100,000 votes later), the southside was in the lead.

The expansion is the newest one since the Edmonds location opened in October 2011.

After announcing the vote on March 6, Dick’s website crashed due to the high traffic. Twenty-four hours later, the company transitioned to a new server and had the website running once again, according to a March 7 press release.

“We are overwhelmed by the outpouring of love,” said Jim Spady, president of Dick’s Drive-Ins in the release. “We’d love to build in both regions right away, but we are a small family business and we have to pick one. It’s wonderful that so many of our customers want to help us choose where we build next.”

To vote or for more information, visit http://www.ddir.com/.