When dining rooms at Anthony’s Restaurants were filled with customers celebrating everything from birthdays to anniversaries, Budd Gould saw more than a successful business. He saw the community he had worked so hard to create.

Gould, the founder of Anthony’s Restaurants and one of the Pacific Northwest’s most influential restaurateurs, died July 5 surrounded by family.

For more than five decades, Gould shaped the region’s dining culture through Anthony’s, which now operates 26 locations across Washington, Oregon and Idaho. He leaves a distinctly Northwest approach to hospitality, one built on the belief that treating people well is good business.

“The industry is so much fun,” Gould told ExplorePNW in 2025. “It becomes part of your soul.”

AN ENTREPRENEUR AT HEART

Gould’s path to becoming one of the Northwest’s leading restaurateurs was anything but conventional. A graduate of Queen Anne High School, the University of Washington and Harvard Business School, he began his career at the old Seattle First National Bank, where he helped introduce Washington’s first credit card. His entrepreneurial instincts soon led him into a string of ventures, including a pet supply business and an ambitious plan to raise Maine lobsters in Puget Sound.

That idea led to the first Anthony’s in Bellevue in 1976, launching a career that would define dining throughout the Northwest. He set out to recreate summers spent in his youth on Whidbey Island, where fishing, crabbing and gathering around the table were simply part of life.

In 1984, Anthony’s established its own seafood company at Seattle’s Pier 91, creating direct relationships with fishers through the Northwest, Alaska and Hawaii. Long before local sourcing became common practice, Gould championed partnerships with regional farmers, wineries and producers.

PUTTING PEOPLE FIRST

Gould was quick to credit the success of Anthony’s not to himself but to employees, vendors, farmers and loyal customers. Today, his daughter, Amy Burns, serves a president and CEO. His son, Herb Gould, is former CEO and succeeds his father as chairman of the board.

“While we grieve this loss, we also celebrate the incredible legacy he built and the countless lives he touched. He took great pride in the team and community we’ve built, and we will continue moving forward with the same passion and dedication he brought every day,” Burns says. “Above all else, I will miss my dad, he was my everything. He was my friend, soccer coach, math tutor, ski buddy, sounding board, and was always there for me.” 

As Anthony’s expanded, Gould remained committed to the communities it served by supporting hospitals, Boys & Girls Clubs, culinary education and families of commercial fishermen lost at sea. He viewed his restaurants as gathering places that strengthened neighborhoods.

Herb Gould recalls first learning from his father on the Little League field and later in the restaurants themselves and the boardroom.

“I got to work side by side with my dad for more than 40 years, and I learned from him every step of the way,” he says. “Even back (when he was my Little League coach), he had this way of bringing out the best in people. That’s what struck with me: Lead with heart, believe in people, and the rest follows. I’m going to miss him so much, but carrying his legacy forward is an honor.”