In 1935 Alki Beach was mostly beach houses and small cottages and Jack Alger started serving fish and chips from his garage. The popularity of his product grew so he converted the small space into the first Spud Fish and Chips. Spud is known for its freshly fried "Spud-cut" cod and french fries cut fresh every day in the restaurant. Its popularity continued to grow for the last 75 years and Wednesday Sept 15 the company will have a 75th Birthday Celebration at 2666 Alki Ave. s.w. from 10:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.

CLICK THE IMAGE ABOVE TO SEE MORE PHOTOS

The celebration will include some special prices, music and door prizes.

$1.75 will get you a one-piece fish and chips meal if you bring in a non-perishable food item for the West Seattle Food Bank. No donation, no problem, Fish n' Chips will be $2.75 and the Spud will donate a dollar to food bank instead.

Musical entertainment will be provided by Nyamuziwa Marimba Ensemble from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

The first 75 people in line (remember it opens at 10:30 a.m.) will win an Alki Spud Anniversary Pack. All patrons with a reciept will get a chance to spin the 75th Anniversary Prize Wheel until 3:00 p.m.

The Spud serves an average of 600 orders of Fish and 400 pounds of french fries daily.

Assistant Manager Justin Maudslien said, "The original owners (the Algers) do come in quite a bit and they ask about how we're doing and make sure everything is quite up to speed and that the recipe is the same it has been since the 30's."

One of the secrets to the success of the restaurant is that the process, and as everyone notes the recipe haven't really changed. It's about consistency and freshness. Emily Taylor, a worker at Spud said, "We make our tartar sauce fresh every day and our fish gets cut every day, the Cod into fillets, and the Halibut into strips and is freshly battered every morning."

The building has been through a series of changes, expansions and remodels since the early days with the biggest change being the addition of an upstairs dining area built over the entry driveway in 1981.

It's also a great place to work. Maudslien who has been working there for the last six months said, "We have a very low turnover of people so we're really fortunate." General Manager Carol Kelly said, "I came to Spud in 1972, my sister worked here before I did. It was a family run business and I became really good friends with the owners and I had children and I stayed and my nephews worked here. I really like working with the public."