A single mother who once worked a pizza delivery job on the side, Toni Nielsen knows best why the hot pies are so popular in Issaquah.
With three teen boys, who grew about an inch every time she turned around, the convenience of bringing home a hot pizza pie was unbeatable.
She now owns the pizza place she was delivering pies from, Extreme Pizza on Front Street North. She hopes someday to open five more.
In a small city filled with pizza places, restaurant owners are doing surprisingly well. Their success can be contributed to a cocktail of diversity, disposable income and the large number of families that fill the Issaquah foothills.
“People are so busy in this area,” Nielsen said. “Convenience makes a big difference.”
Issaquah, with about 30,000 residents, has 11 pizza restaurants, and a 12th is on the way.
Tuscan Stone Pizza, a popular food cart in Bellevue, plans to reopen its trailer on East Lake Sammamish Parkway in the spring.
The food cart closed down after a couple months because cold weather scared away sales before it could build a customer base, said co-owner David Meyer.
Tuscan Stone cooks up made-to-order, thin-crust pizzas in a applewood fueled oven in just over a minute.
While he food cart tends to compete with other food trucks, it brought notable competition to businesses on Bellevue’s Main Street.
When the trailer, setup outside a boarded up fast-food joint, started drawing customers from Issaquah,
Meyer decided it was time to branch out. He built another trailer and sent it east.
“Issaquah is a really family oriented type of community, and that lends itself to a lot of large pizza sales,” Meyer said.
Hearing they had closed shop for winter gave Nielsen a sigh of relief. Extreme Pizza was the closest competitor, although there are four pizza places on Front Street alone.
While pizza places might be pleased that they’ve closed shop, competition is always welcome, said Matt Bott, head of the Issaquah Chamber of Commerce. “I’ve had some great food out of food trucks.”
So many pizza places can survive in the city, because they’re pretty diverse. There is the date night pizza, takeout pizza and the family pizza joint, Bott said.
While Roundtable and Flying Pie Pizzeria allow for the screaming birthday parties, gourmet selections can be found at the subdued Amante’s.
Tutta Bella is somewhere in the middle. Its happy hour promises smaller pizzas created with Italian imported foods. When dinner hour comes, kids can be found playing with pizza dough while their cheese pizzas are tossed in the kitchen.
For Tutta Bella it’s about authentic Italian pizza and families, but their success is also tied to those families’ paychecks.
“I think it is a lot of families with a little more extra income they can choose to dine out with,” said Manager Kelli Phelan.
Extreme Pizza is all about extremes. One recipe replaces pizza sauce for hummus and others use broccoli and potatoes as toppers.
While it offers healthier options, such as one pizza called “Drag it Thru the Garden,” its also started up a food eating competition.
Anyone who can finish an 18-inch pizza called the “Yard Sale,” which weighs about 5 pounds, in 30 minutes gets the pizza for free and a mention on the wall of fame.
It’s a fitting competition for a family restaurant.
Nielsen knows that well; her teens were “bottomless pits.”
Once a single mother working a side job delivering pizzas, Toni Nielsen now owns Extreme Pizza in Issaquah. The city is inundated with pizza places, and competition keeps coming. BY CELESTE GRACEY
Toni Nielsen carries a hot pie into the dining room of Extreme Pizza. BY CELESTE GRACEY
Extreme Pizza’s “Yard Sale”
Pizza in Issaquah:
Amante Pizza & Pasta
131 Front St. N.
425-313-9600
(Delivery, dine in)
Costco Food Court
1801 10th Ave. NW
425-391-1731
(By the slice)
Domino’s Pizza
108 Front St. N.
425-392-1003
(Delivery)
Extreme Pizza
660 Front St. N.
425-837-1700
(By the slice, delivery, dine in)
Flying Pie Pizzeria
30 Front St. S.
425-391-2407
(By the slice, delivery, dine in)
Frankie’s Pizza
1420 NW Gilman Blvd.
425-427-6737
(By the slice, delivery, dine in)
Papa John’s
6160 East Lake Sammamish Pkwy SE
425-313-1111
(Delivery)
Papa Murphy’s Take ‘n’ Bake
755 NW Gilman Blvd.
425-392-3357
Round Table Pizza
730 NW Gilman Blvd.
425-391-7117
(Delivery, dine in)
Tutta Bella
715 NW Gilman Blvd.
425-391-6838
(Dine in)
Zeek’s Pizza
2525 NE Park Dr. Ste. A.
425-893-8646
(By the slice, delivery, dine in)
