This Cajun blackened salmon sandwich is drool-worthy. As are the fries. Credit: ANTHONY KEO

This Cajun blackened salmon sandwich is drool-worthy. As are the fries.

This Cajun blackened salmon sandwich is drool-worthy. As are the fries. ANTHONY KEO

Pretty much everybody knows about Ballard Brothers Seafood and Burgers. The restaurant, which began as a festival booth in 1987 and took over the old Ballard Skipper’s in 2007, is not really a secret. But you might not know two important secrets about it:

(1) There’s a new hidey-hole bar in the back, and (2) it is very fucking weird in there.

Although his main bag is high-quality fish and chips, owner/founder Drew Greer is famed for his drool-worthy Cajun blackened salmon sandwich ($11.95), hailed by everybody from Tom Douglas to the New York Times. Delicately crispy on the outside and succulent inside, the salmon is generously tartar-sauced, loaded with grilled onions, and served on a soft bun. That sandwich and the flaky, double-fried seasoned french fries it comes with are what’s up.

Meg van Huygen has been writing for The Stranger for half of her damn life, usually about food or local history. She was born on the Hill, grew up on Queen Anne, went to school in the CD, and presently...