Habit Burger West Seattle
The Habit Burger Grill — full exterior & drive-thru sign program in West Seattle
Halo-illuminated channel letters on three elevations, a 25-foot pan-formed monument, drive-thru menu boards, clearance bar, and wayfinding — designed, fabricated, and installed by Plumb Signs for the 3501 SW Avalon Way location.
Start a Restaurant ProjectOne signage package, every brand surface
When The Habit Burger Grill opened its West Seattle store at 3501 SW Avalon Way, the build called for more than a wall sign. A full drive-thru program had to land at the same time as the monument, the elevation signage, and the on-site wayfinding — all to a national brand standard, all permitted under City of Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections (SDCI) review, all ready for opening day.
Plumb Signs delivered the program end-to-end from our Tacoma shop floor: shop drawings and engineering, in-house metal fabrication and finishing, integrated UL-listed LED wiring with Class 2 drivers, City of Seattle permit submittal and follow-through, and installation by our own licensed crew. One PM, one shop, one install team — no vendor hand-offs.
Project snapshot
- Client
- The Habit Burger Grill (Yum! Brands)
- Location
- 3501 SW Avalon Way, Seattle, WA 98126 — West Seattle, King County
- Completion
- 2022
- Scope
- Full exterior & drive-thru sign package — design, fabrication, permitting, install
- Sign types
- Halo-illuminated channel letters · 25-ft monument · drive-thru menu boards · clearance bar · directional wayfinding · secondary wall signage
- Category
- Restaurant & hospitality signage · QSR drive-thru
- Services
- Design · Engineering · UL-listed fabrication · SDCI permitting · Installation · Service & repair
- Built by
- Plumb Signs Inc. — 909 S 28th St, Tacoma, WA 98409
Image showcase
Four installed sign types from the West Seattle program. Click any photo to enlarge.
Drive-up menu board — built for daily traffic and Pacific Northwest weather
The order-point menu board is the highest-touch sign in any quick-service restaurant. Customers approach it once a car, every day, in rain and direct sun. This one was built to handle both — UL-listed cabinet, sealed face, internal LED illumination, and rear service access so we can swap a driver without taking the panel apart.
- UL-listed aluminum cabinet · welded seams · marine-grade primer + automotive-grade finish
- Class 2 LED illumination with rear-service driver tray
- Polycarbonate face with digital-print brand graphics
- Concrete-set foundation, drive-aisle alignment per site civil drawings
- Coordinated with the clearance bar to read as one drive-thru moment
Fabrication & sign family
Every element on site was built in Tacoma and installed by our own crew.
Halo-illuminated channel letters
Reverse-channel aluminum letters with face returns, rear-mounted Class 2 LEDs, and a standoff that throws a clean halo against the building. Three elevations, matched scale and brightness.
25-foot pan-formed monument
Single-foundation monument with an internally illuminated pan-formed cabinet at the top — visible from both directions on Avalon Way. Engineered for Seattle wind load, finished in brand colors.
Drive-thru menu board + clearance bar
Brand-spec menu board with sealed polycarbonate face and a paired structural clearance bar — coordinated to the same drive-aisle geometry the civil drawings called for.
Directional & wayfinding
Drive-thru entry, exit, and on-foot routing signs. Same color family, same fabrication standard, same install crew as the marquee signage — so the whole site reads as one program.
Design & engineering — to the brand book and the building
National brand standards specify type, color, illumination, and proportion. Local conditions specify everything else: wind load, structural anchoring, electrical service, jurisdictional permit rules, and how the site reads from the street. Both have to be true on a single sign program.
Our in-house design team developed the scaled drawings, ran the structural engineering for the monument foundation, coordinated electrical service with the GC, prepared the SDCI permit packet, and answered city follow-ups directly — so the brand team didn't have to manage four vendors to land one signage opening.
Why this works for restaurants & QSR drive-thrus
Quick-service restaurants live or die on three things at the sign program: brand fidelity, opening-day readiness, and lifetime serviceability. National brand teams need every location to look the same. Operators need the doors to open on schedule. And the signs need to keep working through 5 a.m. crews and Pacific Northwest weather without a maintenance call every quarter.
Plumb Signs builds for all three. Brand-team conversations happen before fabrication starts. Permit submittals go in while the foundation is being poured. UL-listed cabinets and rear-service driver trays mean future lamp or driver swaps take minutes, not hours. And because we install ourselves, the same crew that knows the sign is the one that comes back when it ever needs work.
Restaurant signage across Seattle & the Puget Sound
The West Seattle Habit Burger sits inside the larger Seattle market we serve every week — from downtown to the airport to the east side, plus the rest of King, Pierce, and Kitsap counties.
- Seattle
- West Seattle
- Bellevue
- Tacoma
- Gig Harbor
- Olympia
- Everett
- Bremerton
- Federal Way
- Renton
- Kent
- Bonney Lake
- Port Orchard
- King County
- Pierce County
- Kitsap County
FAQ
What signs did Plumb Signs build for The Habit Burger Grill in West Seattle?
A full exterior and drive-thru program at 3501 SW Avalon Way: halo-illuminated channel letters on three building elevations, a 25-foot pan-formed monument on a single foundation, a drive-thru menu board, a structural clearance bar, on-site directional and wayfinding signs, and secondary wall signage at the entrance — all designed, fabricated, permitted, and installed in-house.
How are halo-illuminated channel letters fabricated?
Reverse-channel aluminum letters are built with returns facing the wall and the lit face hidden behind a brand-color face panel. Rear-mounted Class 2 LEDs project light through a small standoff against the building, producing an even halo of illumination around the letter shape. Each letter is independently wired and serviceable from behind.
Does Plumb Signs serve restaurants in Seattle and King County?
Yes. Plumb Signs is based in Tacoma and works across Seattle, West Seattle, Bellevue, Renton, Kent, Federal Way, and the rest of King County every week. We handle SDCI permit submittals directly and have crews dispatched out of one shop, which keeps multi-location restaurant rollouts and individual store openings on the same schedule.
How long does a restaurant signage package like this one take?
From signed proposal to final inspection, a full QSR drive-thru program typically runs 10–16 weeks: 2–3 weeks for design and engineering, 4–6 weeks for City of Seattle SDCI permit review (or the equivalent in another jurisdiction), 4–6 weeks for fabrication in our Tacoma shop, and 1–2 weeks for installation and final inspection.
Are the signs UL-listed?
Yes. Plumb Signs is a UL-listed fabricator. The illuminated channel letters, monument cabinet, and drive-thru menu board on this project were all built to the UL 48 standard for sign assemblies and wired with Class 2 LED power supplies for code-compliant low-voltage operation.
How energy-efficient is the LED illumination on this program?
The entire program uses Class 2 LED modules — typically drawing a fraction of the power of a comparable fluorescent or neon sign — paired with rear-service driver trays so any future component swap can happen without dismantling the sign. Most modern LED sign modules carry a 5–7 year service life under typical operating conditions.
What materials hold up to Seattle weather?
Exterior cabinets are welded aluminum with marine-grade primer and automotive-grade finish; faces are sealed polycarbonate with digital-print or vinyl graphics; mounting hardware is stainless. The combination is built specifically for Pacific Northwest rain, salt-air exposure near the Sound, and long-term UV without color shift on brand colors.
What other sign types does Plumb Signs build for restaurants?
Pylon signs, blade signs, illuminated cabinet signs, dimensional logo signs, ADA-tactile interior signs, digital menu and message boards, interior dimensional letters and brand walls, awnings, vinyl window graphics, and full wayfinding sign families for multi-location operators across Washington, Oregon, and Idaho.
Planning a restaurant sign program in Seattle or the Puget Sound?
One shop, one team, one install crew — from concept through installation and long after, including same-day service when something needs attention. Tell us about the build.
