Every college town has at least one.

So last weekend I had another road trip, this time to Yakima. My purpose for traveling to Yakima was to get some warranty work done on my car, and Steve Hahn Kia was the place for me to do it. Happily everything worked out fine although I do have to make another trip in a couple of weeks to finish a repair on my passenger side rear view mirror which I broke.

(No, not under warranty. Way to go Dave.)

So, I'm wrapped up, I'm on my way home and I decide I'm going to go through Ellensburg because I remember a guitar shop in Ellensburg that was just totally amazing. When I got there, it was gone which made me sad, but I also realized that it's an opportunity to go look at something else. 

Just around the corner and up the street, I found an amazing store that I'm going to tell you about in another story. What I want to talk about today is lunch. (you know how much I like lunch) 

I spent my college years in Ellensburg. Attending what was then called Central Washington State College. (Now University.) In later years I came back to Ellensburg to build a radio station. There was 1 tradition that anyone who went to school at Central Washington College or later university participated in and that was “ordering out.”  

You're on campus, you're in the dorm. It's 10:00 at night and you're hungry. What do you do? You “order out.” Where do you order out from? There were two places when I was at school there. One was Pizza Mia. (To me, the best pizza ever). And there was Campus U-Tote-Em. 

According to their website.
“Campus U-Tote-Em is known through the generations. In the 50's, 60's & 70's, high school kids would hang out and eat in their cars outside the restaurant. Folks love to bring their children and grandkids in and reminisce about their favorite hangout from when they were in high school.” 

So here I am in Ellensburg. I've got a little time to kill, and I want to re-live some of my misspent youth. So, what do I do? I found The Campus U-Tote-Em and ordered lunch. For this trip it was shrimp and onion rings. (Yum) I hit the drive through, make my order, and then I just wait for them to holler for #11. (that's me) When they holler my number, I roll up to the window again, grab my order, and I hit the road for home. (Look, it's finger food.) It was a lovely drive home. I'm full of fried food. What more can a guy ask for? 

In a couple of days, I'll tell you about the coolest record store I've seen in a long time. 

 Campus U-Tote-Em – Home of the Campus Burger (campusutotem.com)