Tornado Alley Menu Will Remain at Seattle Restaurant; But 25% of Proceeds Will Go to Tornado Victims

By Ellen Killoran | May 24 2011 3:50 PM

Voracious, Seattle Weekly's food blog, had recently reported that Seattle restaurant The 5 Spot would continue to feature 'Tornado Alley' as the current theme in its rotation of regional menus - despite the fact that the U.S. hearltland and midwest have suffered devastating tornadoes in the last month, with the death toll continuing to rise. In response to media pressure, it seems, the restaurant later sent an email newsletter announcing that it would be donating 25% of its 'Tornado Alley' menu sales to an elementary school in Alabama, Seattle Weekly wrote in an update to the earlier report. (A deadly tornado struck Alabama in April, killing close to 250 people; the death toll from this week's tornado in Joplin, Missouri is 117 and climbing.)

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Assistant manager Jennifer Gleer told Seattle Weekly in April that the Queen Anne eatery had no plans to discontinue the theme, which is scheduled to run through June 13. When we went into it, we made sure that we did not highlight any aspect of destruction to be sensitive to people who've lost their homes, said Gleer, who grew up in St. Louis, Missouri.

In the email newsletter sent to Seattle Weekly, the restaurant said: While these recent tornadoes technically took place outside of Tornado Alley (it's known as Dixie Alley), we cannot ignore the hardships facing our fellow citizens from these devastating storms in the South.

Source: Mike Seely/Seattle Weekly