EAAers in action
in the spotlight
Randy’s at Boeing Field
One of aviation’s non-flying gems
STORY AND PHOTOS BY MEG GODLEWSKI
If you’re a pilot or aviation buff, then a trip to Seattle, Washington, isn’t complete without a stop at Randy’s Restaurant.
Randy’s is an unassuming restaurant located just south
of Boeing Field/King County International Airport (BFI).
From the outside, the restaurant resembles a 1960s-era
Denny’s. On the inside, it’s more than a restaurant. It’s
part museum, part clubhouse, part time machine, and
part think tank.
The restaurant is owned by Richard Roadenizer.
“Randy was the gentleman I bought it from in 1981
on April Fools’ Day,” he explains. Richard runs the
restaurant with his wife, Lucia.
“One of us is always here,” she says with a laugh.
The restaurant still has the day-glo Formica tables and
countertops and magenta and orange booth cushions
that would make the Partridge family feel welcome.
But visitors rarely notice the colors. They are too busy
looking at the model aircraft, photographs, and aviation
books. One wall is dominated by a mural depicting a
round-the-world Piper Cub flight of a local couple. It’s
hard to say what brings the people to Randy’s—the food
or the atmosphere.
“Some first-time visitors tell us it looks cluttered,”
says Lucia, “but we also have lots of regular customers.
They tell us ‘don’t do anything to change the place!’”
On the outside it still looks like a Denny’s. On the inside, it’s an
aviation museum.
Aviation and day-glo colors fight it out for attention in Randy’s.
Signed aviation photographs, model aircraft, and aircraft parts are
part of the interior decorating.
