Dressed in little-girl pink with it's peaked roof and cupolas, gingerbread and year-round string of Christmas lights, Tootsie's Drive-Thru looks like it was plucked right off of Disneyland's Main Street.
Curbside on the big lot that's home to our famous grain tower, it's Sequim's answer to Port Angeles' Froogle's...right down to the marquee.
I have a particular fondness for the name. My Dad used to call me Tootsie.
Tootsie's is the place to grab some calories when you just want to eat - and you're not sure what's gonna hit the spot. The concise menu doesn't overwhelm you with too many choices.
Greg and I were celebrating a milestone for a project we're working on and friend Judie joined us to give Tootsie's a try.
Fall is definitely here, the dark night was too cold to use the outside tables. So we parked with a full view of the grain tower and ate in the car.
Where can you do that today and not worry you'll be mugged? Sequim of course!
It turned out to be a good decision for nostalgic conversation. Local radio KSQM (91.5 FM) softly played in the background.
But first, let's start off with morning fare.
If you're a Dagwood, perennially running late, you can gobble down something filling to last you 'til lunch.
Breakfast sandwiches are combinations of egg, cheese, bacon, sausage, and garden varieties. All orders are served on an English muffin with mayo - or ask for sourdough.
On the side, add hash browns or French toast sticks sprinkled with powdered sugar.
Follow that with a cold glass of milk. Or finish off your breakfast combo of eggs, bacon, muffin, and hash browns with a 12 oz latte or mocha, or cold apple, orange, or carrot juice.
Don't have time for them to rustle up something hot? There's poppy seed, chocolate chip, or blueberry muffins. Then add a hot chocolate topped with whipped cream.
Tootsie's take on power drinks starts with apple, carrot, or orange juice. Then mix in lemon, spinach, beet, cucumber, or celery.
If it's hot outside, you'll want it cold. If it's cold, rainy, or snowing, you'll want it hot.
Espresso that is. They offer versions with decaf and non-fat milk upon request. Or try hot or cold Chai tea.
But we three Musketeers (or maybe these boomers are better described as Mouseketeers) came for dinner.
I ordered a regular burger with mustard, pickle, onion, and lettuce. To go along with, I had my Diet Coke (I always get that if it's available) plus a chocolate milk shake (which tasted more like a malt - but that's fine with me). You have no idea how tasty a burger washed down with a shake can be. I had to try both the onion rings and the fries (would've tried their curly fries but I didn't see them on the menu board).
There's just no gettin' around it: fast food establishments have no choice but to offer condiments in packets. After a previous review I promised myself to put a bottle of ketchup in the car. I forgot. Opening twenty packets of ketchup while balancing them on my lap was a feat worthy of a stint on Ed Sullivan. At least they offered wet wipes.
Judie ordered the Chipotle Black Bean Veggie Burger and Greg's chicken Firebird also came with chipotle sauce. Since we had a choice, all chose wheat buns.
Other speciality burgers: Bacon Mushroom Swiss, Wild West with BBQ sauce, Sourdough Grill, a quarter-pound Chipotle with a mild chili pepper, and the Towering Chipotle (double everything on the quarter-pounder). Vegetarians have a choice of a Boca or Gardenburger.
Among the extras: grilled onions, jalapeno or chili peppers, and tartar, ranch, honey mustard, BBQ, or Fry sauces.
Tootsie's combo meals add fries and beverage to sandwiches made of grilled or crispy chicken, including a club version; the tried and true BLT, and fish.
To drink you can also choose from rarely found Barq's Root Beer, Mr. Pibb, Sprite, and Cherry Coke.
For kids there's burgers, chicken, or a corn dog. Moms (or Dads) will like adding apple sauce or a juice box.
Once we got organized, found places for the drinks and spread out napkin tablecloths, burgers, fries, and liquids were passed around so we could give everything a try.
We all agreed there could have been more chipotle sauce to warrant the The Chipotle and Firebird moniker.
But maybe that was a good thing; I only had to clean up cold fries and crumbs from the carpet and seats.
For your sugar rush there are shakes of mocha, Chai, Oreo, and Butterfinger. Our dessert was a root beer float. Haven't had one of those in a long time. There was nothing left once it made the rounds.