Why are there so few services between Vancouver and Olympia on I-5? (Seattle: home, live)

[Oregon Transplant]

I wish there were more places to eat on the route between Portland and Seattle. Once you leave Vancouver and until you get to Olympia there is basically no place to eat (other than fast food) along Interstate 5.

If it were down south, there would be a Cracker Barrel Restaurant on every exit and a share of Perkins, TGIF, Ruby Tuesday, Bakes Square, etc. That 100 mile route is a ghost town. WHY?

[AzDreamer]

Not too many people live next to I-5 in the stretch you are asking about.

[allforcats]

There are "so few services" because nobody needs them, because nobody travels there, because nobody lives there. That's farm country, not the city. Yeah, there's no one who wants those businesses there.

[Ira500]

Get off the freeway and go into Centralia. Not a lot of chain places, but some good places nonetheless.

[Oregon Transplant]

Originally Posted by allforcats

There are "so few services" because nobody needs them, because nobody travels there, because nobody lives there. That's farm country, not the city. Yeah, there's no one who wants those businesses there.

I see the area as no different than rural North Carolina off of busy Interstate 95. Rural but the huge amount of traffic supports a huge number of restaurants and shops. Bring in at least a Cracker Barrel or Perkins!!

[MaikeerinWA]

Yeah, we once ate at a Mexican (Michoacán) place in Centralia called La Tarasca. We need to go back there.

On the way home from Mt. St. Helens, we also ate at the Olympic Club in Centralia, one of those interesting McMenamins places.

We stopped because we had read of these places, not because we were in danger of starving to death on this 90-minute stretch of interstate.

Originally Posted by Ira500

Get off the freeway and go into Centralia. Not a lot of chain places, but some good places nonetheless.

[seattlerain]

Hopefully that stretch will never be invaded by chain restaurants.

[dachmom]

I don't see the point of adding more restaurants in that stretch. That just means more congestion for the people entering and exiting the freeway. Personally, I hope it doesn't get a chain restaurant, as someone else said, that's farm country, let's keep it that way!

[sean98125]

As others have pointed out, there are plenty of places to eat in Centralia and Chehalis that aren't chains.

There's Burgerville in Kelso, Hattie's and the Rose Tree in Castle Rock, a decent pizza place and a decent BBQ place in Grand Mound (the names of which I've forgotten), the Farm Boy drive in in Maytown, and even more choices a few miles off the freeway.

[Ira500]

Burgerville's actually part of an Oregon based chain, but Burgerville is awesome! Go there!