When Carol Kelly took a job at Spud Fish and Chips on Alki she was only 18 years old. That was Sept. 15, 1972 and Carol said, "My sister got me the job." She was hired by Rick Alger, son of Frank Alger, the founder of SPUD, one of West Seattle's oldest businesses which began in 1935. It's now owned by Ivar's.

When Carol started she made $1.80 an hour.

She worked alongside Rick and his wife Terrie until their retirement in 1999.

Carol has two daughters:

• Ashley- Who has worked for SPUD since she was a teen in 2003.  She is now the General Manager of Ivar’s Acres of Clams restaurant. 

• Victoria (Tori)- Who worked for Alki Spud as a teen beginning in 2007 and was Assistant Manager at Spud before leaving in early 2020.  

Over her 50 years Carol has been active in the Alki and West Seattle communities and almost everyone in West Seattle knows her bright smile and red hair.  She knows most customers by name, regular order, and details about their families. 

Under her management, Alki has served:

• More than 5.3 million customers.
• She has filleted, battered, and breaded more than 937,000 pounds of fish.
• She has wrapped more than 4 million lineal feed of SPUD wrapping paper with the bubbling cod cartoon around orders.
• SPUD has soaked, cut, and fried more than 2.3 million pounds of SPUDs to accompany its orders
• She has served more than 3.5 million cups of Coke.

On an average summer day from June to August Alki Spud serves approximately 900 orders of fish and 600 pounds of fries.

Each year they sell 32,000 pounds of fish (150,000 entrees), 1,100 extra large dill pickles and 175,000 tartar sauce cups

The most popular menu item is "The Special" which consists of three pieces of fish, fries and an extra large soda. It has been a menu item for more than 30 years.

During World War II Alki Spud came close to closing when they ran out of grease (they now use Canola Oil) to fry the fish. West Seattle residents banded together using some of their ration tickets to buy grease and save Spud .

Carol said that she loves West Seattle, "It's got it all", and that "Working with people is what I love." She notes that the "cruising" scene on Alki is actually less today than in the 70's, "Maybe it's the price of gas!", she said laughing, "Alki is just a great place, and a great community."

She still loves seafood and "I like the fish" she said. "The recipe is exactly the same."

For five decades Carol Kelly has been sharing a smile and serving fish and chips to happy customers. She wouldn't have it any other way.

Tuesday Oct. 11, from 2-4 pm Spud will celebrate her work anniversary and the public is invited to stop by and offer congratulations and thanks. A cake and beverages will be served.