For those of you in search of pizza Shangri-La, your never-never land of brick-baked goodness, we’ll get you one step closer. Our Lake City Way and Bridle Trails locations are now serving slices everyday starting at 11AM. In celebration, they will be dishing up free slices on April 20th. That’s right!
F-R-E-E slices! This slice-topia is only available when you visit Lake City Way (8024 15th Ave. NE, Seattle) or Bridle Trails (13005 NE 70th Pl., Kirkland) from 11AM to 4PM this Saturday.

Even after the free slice fest is over, you will still be able to enjoy a quick slice at these locations during your lunch hour on weekdays or in between little league games on weekends. Pop in for slices, salads, calzones, pasta, and breadsticks (and don’t forget Gelatiamo’s heavenly gelato). You’ll find our standard Original Cheese and Extra Pepperoni slices along with seasonal specials or other menu pies.

For those of you already ordering whole pies from Lake City Way and Bridle Trails locations, no need to worry. Delivery time remains the same: 5PM on weekdays and 4PM on weekends. We do offer daytime catering for larger orders, if you need more than a slice!

Any way you slice it, we make it easy for you to reach your pizza paradise.

Allison Hogue and Richard Floisand

Now that our new Madison Delivery Kitchen is open, many people have asked about the architect. Floisand Studio is the firm we chose to design this space, as we have a history of successful projects with them. We first worked with architect Richard Floisand and his incredible team when they remodeled the façade of our Magnolia location in 2009.  Since then, we’ve felt a strong connection to their design aesthetic as it reflects our unique style and culture. So, it’s no surprise that we chose to work with them to develop Seattle’s only LEED-certified pizzeria.

Floisand Studio is a Seattle-based architecture, planning and interior design firm, founded in 1999. Their deep knowledge and commitment to creating spaces that embrace sustainability aligns with our values and commitment, which made them a natural to bring our vision for a LEED-certified location to life.

Richard has been instrumental in making our newest location the greenest so far.  And, for a couple of reasons this was no easy task. First, we’ve been working to embrace sustainable practices throughout our operation – and have already set a fairly high bar.  We’re also a small company without the deep pockets that large corporations have to invest in building and infrastructure, and Richard understood this.

In addition, this location came with its own unique challenges. Before we decided to build here, the property had housed, at different times, a gas station and a dry cleaner.  Both of these businesses left their own less-than-green imprint on the land, so before we could even break ground, we worked with Richard and his team to ensure the site was clean.  This extra effort meant we were able to deliver environmental benefits to the neighborhood even as we continued to build out the site.

Another challenge for Richard was the need to stabilize the land. As it turned out, the property consisted of, in part, fill material, likely left over from a previous use. Richard and his team were able to engineer solutions to ensure stability for the home of our newest location.These challenges – site cleanup and site stabilization – are essential components that people visiting our new store will never see, and are as important as the materials we chose to build with.  Speaking of which, Richard was able to integrate features like Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified lumber in our framing, low- and non-toxic finishes, and high-efficiency plumbing and lighting fixtures.  He also created a design that brings in abundant natural light to reduce our electricity usage while creating a warm and inviting space – and while staying within budget.

We think our newest location is a great addition to the neighborhood, and we couldn’t have done it without Richard and his team! Come and see for yourself, and learn more about Floisand Studio at www.floisandstudio.com

As we mentioned a couple of weeks ago in the blog post about the History of our new Madison Valley Location, we have built what we expect will be Seattle’s first stand-alone LEED-certified pizzeria. As a locally owned, privately held business in Seattle, building LEED is a huge financial and logistical commitment, but being “green” is a top priority for us.

So, what is a LEED building and why is it important for our community? Well, in 2000, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) developed a third-party certification system to promote Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) building practices. This new certification created a framework for green building design, construction, operations and maintenance. Projects can earn points in five credit categories that 1) minimize the impact on the ecosystems, 2) promote smarter use of water and 3) energy performance, 4) encourage sustainable building materials, and 5) promote better indoor air quality.

To earn LEED certification (which can include commercial buildings, schools, homes and even neighborhoods), a project must satisfy all LEED prerequisites and earn a minimum 40 points on a 110-point LEED rating system scale. The points are bunched together in categories from basic certification (40 – 49), Silver (50-59), Gold (60-79) to Platinum (80+ points). In Seattle there are 176 LEED projects in the city, only 10 of which are stand-alone restaurants (most of which are owned by large companies like Starbucks). There’s a reason for this – while Seattle has several LEED projects, most of these are built by and for organizations with deep financial resources. Independent restaurants like Pagliacci don’t have the resources of larger chains, but we still recognize our duty to do everything we can to protect the environment for today and for future generations. With this in mind, our goal is to gain Gold Certification for our newest location.

At Pagliacci, making great pizza is extremely important to us, as is the environment and our community. We built our Madison Delivery Kitchen using recycled materials, Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified lumber, and energy efficient lighting with a design that creates extra daylight and emphasizes water and energy conservation. And when it comes to making great pizza, we have a strong focus on sustainability, too. The majority of our fresh ingredients are sourced locally whenever possible and we are big fans of composting all organic material. Our pizza boxes are Forest Stewardship Council certified, which helps ensure sustainable forestry. These boxes are made from 50% Pacific Northwest wood fibers, milled in Port Townsend, and constructed in Richmond, British Columbia. What goes around comes around and around and around…all in the PNW!

So, with a little footprint we hope to make a big impact on how restaurants will be constructed in the future.

Our newest Delivery Kitchen!

The promise of free slices beckoned crowds of hungry Madison Valley dwellers to the opening of our newest location last Thursday.  Curious neighborhood residents made their way in to marvel at the building that had gone up so quickly. Students from nearby schools quickly found the lure of free pizza impossible to resist. A bus full of hungry students from The Bush School pulled up and made our cooks momentarily very nervous (nothing scarier than a bus full of hungry teenagers!) but they were able to weather the storm of slice orders that followed. They were glad that they did, as the Garfield Cross Country team arrived just after the Bush School left. After the slice giveaway ended at 5pm, General Manager Mike Young and Associate Manager Brandon Ogestelli switched into delivery mode. At long last, Pagliacci Pizza was delivering to the Madison Valley! In addition to Madison Park, their evening drivers now deliver to Madrona, Capitol Hill and part of the Central District.

Both Mike and Brandon were inspired with the warm reception they received from the community throughout the weekend. They both enjoyed seeing the number of neighborhood families that came to see the new location. With the Bush School, Garfield, O’Dea, Seattle Prep and the Seattle Academy of Arts and Sciences all nearby, Mike expects that the new Madison location will very quickly become a popular gathering spot for the neighborhood. Thank you for the great welcome, Madison Valley! We are very glad to be here!

Whether it’s billed as a Harvest Festival or Halloween, everyone knows that the last week in October is always about 2 things: costumes and more importantly, CANDY. According to the National Confectioners Association, more than 93% of kids go trick or treating each year.  How much candy they ultimately get is a good question…about 90% of parents admit to sneaking treats from their kids’ trick or treat bags! Because Halloween is in the middle of the week this year, some neighborhoods are choosing to celebrate early. Here are a few places that we’ll be getting our sugar fix this Halloween!

Hilloween  – For kids and adults of all ages, the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce brings “Hilloween” to Cal Anderson Park on Sunday the 28^th from noon to 6 pm. Featured performers include Sgt. Rigsby and his Amazing Silhouettes, Recess Monkey and YouTube sensation Jenny and her Ukulele.  There will also be carnival games, spooky stories, a costume parade around the park, and trick or treating. Best of all, there will be a pizza party at our Broadway Pizzeria at 4:00pm. Kids in costume with their parents will get a free slice!

The West Seattle Junction will be closing the streets for their Harvest Festival this Sunday as well! Activities include the West Seattle Farmers Market, Harvest Craft activities, a kid’s costume parade and trick or treating! Yes, our West Seattle Delivery Kitchen will be passing out candy!

On Halloween, Bellevue Square will host a variety of events from 5-7pm. Roving clowns (hopefully not of the scary kind!) will be tying balloons, kids can investigate the science of slime and dry ice at the Mad Science Booth and the hardest workin’ band on Halloween, Recess Monkey, will be putting on a performance at Bellevue Square Center Court. And of course, there will be trick or treating! Our Bellevue Square Pizzeria will have plenty of candy for all the little ghosts, goblins, witches, pirates and princesses that come by!

For you folks up on the North End, if you come into our Kenmore Delivery Kitchen wearing a costume from 11-2pm we’ll “TREAT” you to a free slice!

We’ll be starting delivery at 4pm on Halloween and continuing our annual tradition of scaring away vampires by providing garlic as a topping on any whole pie for free!

As we get ready to open our newest location in MadisonValley, we thought we’d share a little bit of the site history with you.  Because even as the new location itself will be a first (Seattle’s first stand-alone LEED certified pizzeria – making it one of the most environmentally friendly restaurant spaces in the city) the property it occupies has a story to tell, too.

The property, which is at the corner of Madison Street and Lake Washington Blvd, was actually home to Pagliacci’s first Commissary (where we make our pizza dough, pasta dishes and popular Pagliaccio dressing), 20 years ago. We later moved the commissary – first to a location on Martin Luther King Jr. Way, and then to its current location on Capitol Hill.

At one point, the Madison property housed a dry cleaner gas station, amongst other things. While these businesses served the community well, they both left their own environmental footprint on the land, and before we could even break ground on the new location, we had to invest in site cleanup to ensure the property was safe for us to occupy, and was safe for the surrounding community.

But let’s go back even further.  Did you know a train line once ran through the Madison Valley? We didn’t either, that is until our architect, Richard Floisand, began researching the site.  One of the things he found was that a train trestle ran above the Madison property, and the property itself was the likely location of one of the supports that held the trestle up. This meant that the property included a lot of fill material left over from the 1920’s.  And this also meant that we had to put a lot of effort into stabilizing the land so that it could safely house our newest location for a long, longtime.

Seattle is a relatively young city, but Madison Valley is one of the city’s oldest neighborhoods, and we’re happy that we get to play a part in its future.  While it took a lot of work to get the site ready, it gave us a chance to learn about the site for our newest location.  We’re looking forward to opening our doors very soon, and to becoming part of this community’s fabric and ongoing history for years to come.

Floisand Studio's rendering of the Madison location.

Now Hiring!

Our new Madison location is starting to take shape!

The retaining wall is in place and the frame is up.  According to project manager Guy Thrall, floors and interior walls will be going into the kitchen and back areas of the building this weekend. The city inspectors have been out and signed off on the electrical and plumbing work that has been completed. Window installation is starting. Later this week they will be tying in the sewer lines to the city system and cement will be poured for new sidewalks and curbs. Guy reports that they will start hanging the interior drywall and cabinetwork next week.

We’ll continue to keep you posted on Madison’s progress, and we’ll definitely let you know when we’ll be open!

Open for Business!

Today, UW students were greeted with a brand new Husky Union Building (aka The HUB) and the reopening of our HUB Pizzeria in Husky Den!

Two years ago the HUB closed for a major upgrade. Built in 1949 and originally intended to serve 26,000 students, the HUB has had 4 smaller remodels over its 60-year history and has grown from 70,000 square feet to the 260,000 square feet that it now occupies. This latest total renovation (the first in its history) was designed for silver LEED certification. It integrates formerly disparate design elements and allows more outside light into the building. Other highlights of the renovation include a 3-floor atrium and a green roof. Students will enjoy a space that is far more flexible and inviting than the “old HUB”. Meeting rooms can now accommodate up to 200 people, and the gloomy hallways are now a thing of the past. The project designers were able to evoke the memory of the better aspects of the old building by keeping about half of it’s structure.

The HUB Pizzeria first opened in 2002 and was one of the anchors of the old dining area, and we are thrilled to be back. Along with our McMahon, Eleven 01 and University Ave pizzerias, we are excited to introduce a new Husky freshman class to Seattle’s Best Pizza.

Welcome Back Huskies!

You could learn to toss a perfect pizza like Associate Manager Molly Wakenshaw!

Football season has started, the kids have gone back to school, and the lazy days of summer are over. In a few short weeks, our busiest time of the year will start. It’s Pizza Preseason right now!

We’re currently drafting new talent. Our coaches, er, managers, scout the applicants. Their practiced eyes size up the potential rookies. Do they possess the quick hands and fleet feet to be able to scramble around the kitchen as a cook? Can CSR hopefuls handle the blitz of calls that are sure to swarm our Phone Center? Will potential drivers be able to defend against the rush and safely make their way downfield  through our delivery areas? Will manager applicants have the instincts to call the right plays any given night?

We are accepting applications at all of our locations.  Great people, competitive pay, and maybe best of all, free pizza! We’re also looking for players to join our expansion team, the new Madison Delivery Kitchen. Since the kitchen is still under construction, please send job inquiries to mikey@pagliacci.com.

We are very excited to report on the progress of our Madison Valley location.  It’s not much to look at now, but it is beginning to take shape. The piles to support the foundation of the building have been driven, and the footings and foundations will be poured this week! Framing will start soon…then it will start looking like a real building!

We hope to open sometime in the fall, and we’ll be sure to keep you updated on our progress!