West Seattle food news: Pizza Time bought by Red Star Pizza

The exterior sign isn’t up yet, but there are brand-new owners at, and a new name for, what was Pizza Time at 7514 35th SW (map). Shannon Cross tells WSB that while she and her husband are born-and-raised West Seattleites, when they decided to go into the pizza business, they couldn’t find the right place here, so they opened Red Star Pizza in the Pierce County town of Lakewood. Then Pizza Time went on the market – and they realized, “We have to have it.” Right now they’re in a transition time to the full menu they offer as Red Star Pizza (see it here on their website, which Shannon says will have the West Seattle location information soon), including subs, plus more fresh local ingredients, including, she says, produce from the West Seattle Farmers’ Market. And note the video games in the photo atop this story – Shannon explains that they’re into ’80s and ’90s nostalgia, so they’ve got five classic game machines. Like Pizza Time, they have delivery and carry-out — 11 am-11 pm Mondays-Thursdays, 11 am-1 am Fridays-Saturdays, 11 am-8 pm Sundays.

coffee September 3, 2009 (2:38 pm)

Had a pizza last week and it was GREAT! 7.99 for a large 1 topping carry out, cannot go wrong there!

Thomas September 3, 2009 (3:54 pm)

Coffee, you mean you had a pizza at Pizza Time or do you mea at Red Star? Pizza Time is cheap but certainly not great. It’s the kind of stuff undiscriminating college students eat at 3am after snorting vodka or whatever they do nowadays.

Now, give me a nice thin crust New York style pie, with really great crust and sauce, and I’d be happy to pay a lot more than $7.99. I guess we’ve got Gianonni’s in Westwood for that though.

KNM September 3, 2009 (4:03 pm)

Just got coupons in the ValuPak and wondered “where’s this Red Star Pizza?” We’ll give it a try!

rnl September 3, 2009 (5:02 pm)

http://www.zacharys.com – the best pizza ever!!!!!

add September 3, 2009 (5:48 pm)

Thomas – Abbondanza in the Morgan Junction has the pizza you’re looking for! All I ever order is the Marguerita. YUM.

WSB September 3, 2009 (5:55 pm)

rnl, not in Seattle that I can see?

miws September 3, 2009 (6:45 pm)

I saw the coupon in Val-Pak too, yesterday, and thought that sounded like Pizza Time’s street addy.

Looked it up and confirmed it, but forgot to e-m WSB. Sorry. :o ;)

Mike

WSB September 3, 2009 (7:39 pm)

no worries, we were kind of excited to happen onto another restaurant-related scoop ourselves for once … and luckily it didn’t take too long to track down the owners … TR

John B September 3, 2009 (7:45 pm)

The old Pizza Time did not win any awards, but it was the only place within 20 miles where you could get a pizza with a couple of toppings for under $10 (am I alone in thinking a beer & pizza night should be under $20?). I have not tried it yet as Red Star – I just hope they keep the same/similar pricing.

Sometimes I want a gourmet $20 pie, but when I just want some cheap grub, Pizza Time was the spot.

WTF September 3, 2009 (10:15 pm)

Great! Good luck you guys. We’ll stop by. Love it’s within walking distance. :O)

coffee September 4, 2009 (7:14 am)

Thomas, its Red Star in the Pizza Time location, as mentioned in the story, the signage has not yet changed, but the name and ownership has. Met the owner when I picked up my order and she was very nice. Their pizza is a good simple product with good flavor at a great price! I noticed more cheese than when it was Pizza Time, and they make their own dough and sauce, which I also noticed a better flavor.

Brizone September 5, 2009 (7:52 pm)

I just ran over there 10 minutes ago and got a basic 2-topping pizza, and it’s great. Definitely *NOT* Pizza Time anymore!!
.
To reiterate: NOT PIZZA TIME (thank god).
.
They haven’t posted their phone # ’cause they can’t get ahold of their webmaster or something. You can reach them at (206) 923-0555.

And @ rnl: not relevant to WS, duh.

(required) September 5, 2009 (9:23 pm)

Pizza chain not well known — selling under ten buck pizzas — and the new owners said they had to have it? I am missing something here. How is this profitable?

Mike and Shannon Cross September 5, 2009 (9:52 pm)

West Seattle RedStar 206-923-0555
Sun-Thur 11am-10pm
Fri-Sat 11am-11pm
Call outside of our hours and
if we are here we will make you a pie, no problem.

I just want to thank you all for your kind words, and furthermore your patience and understanding as we make the final signage and website changes to our baby, West Seattle Red Star Pizza. Being its just us and a few good friends that happen to work for us doing it all, it might take a little time to get everything done.
Honestly, It’s been a long road but so worth it now that we have seen all the positive comments about us. I also got to tell you, We are just tickled red to be worthy of being blogged about on our long time favorite local blogsite. We truly consider it an honor and a milestone in our efforts.

I’m also very happy to hear that you all have noticed the difference between our product and Pizza time. Unlike them, We make our own dough, sauce and ingredients fresh every day. For comparison, The corporate guys usually get there dough and ingredients at the same age we toss ours out (72hrs max on dough)
Our produce comes from Tony’s down the street and everything else from local suppliers. No national distributors here. We want our money to stay in this community that has welcomed us so warmly and treated us so well. For all the local schools, non-profits, and faith-based organizations reading this we offer deeply discounted or free products to help you with your good work.

Dear John B, Our prices will remain low and we will always offer a large pie for under ten bucks, plus
Snacky type stuff for under 5$. We agree with you 100%, beer and pizza for under 20$ should be a rule.

FYI, Arcades are free to play, so is the candy for the kids and the milk bones for man’s best friends. Please Stop by and say hi, even if you don’t want a pie, we love meeting our neighbors.

Thank you all again.

Sincerely,
Michael and Shannon Cross, “Hotrod” Bill P. and “Fast Eddy” Eddy B.

Mike September 6, 2009 (3:08 am)

Gianonni’s doesn’t use real cheese. It’s like this mixture of cheese and plastic. It’s disgusting. Even my kids turned up their nose, and they’re not as discerning as I am.

Hopefully they’ve changed since the last time I’ve been there because I’ve gotten better pizza at A-PizzaMart!

Cheryl September 6, 2009 (2:41 pm)

Oh hurray! Pizza right near my house (Fauntlee Hills)… can’t wait to try them!

Donna Burns September 6, 2009 (10:16 pm)

Welcome to the neighborhood, Red Star Pizza! We are so glad that you are part of the many great choices of pizza for our West Seattle Community!
Best of luck in your new adventure!

As the owner of Giannoni’s Pizzeria, of course I must address the comment made by Mike~

We use 100% whole milk REAL mozzarella cheese and have never had a complaint about our brand choice. I am sorry if your family came to Giannoni’s and didn’t care for our pie. What we know is that we will never please everyone – pizza is a very serious, personal choice for many people! In West Seattle we are very lucky to have many great choices for folks to explore and patronize their favorites. Independent, small business is a difficult and risky choice to make. We feel fortunate to have many loyal customers and new ones everyday who love our product. What I would like is for people like you, Mike, to give us feedback in person so that we may have an opportunity to make changes if needed, or at very least reimburse your money so that you can walk away feeling like we tried our best.

When people write things on blogs that are stated as an opinion I have no problem with that – as I said, we know that we will never be everyone’s choice. However, it feels unfair when someone states something the way Mike did, which is obviously not true. We use fabulous, real cheese!

Again, congratulations to Red Star, and please don’t hesitate to call on us if you ever need anything from your pizza neighbors.

Shell Marr September 8, 2009 (7:28 pm)

We just had Red Star Pizza the last two nights in a row…. Mike was very nice on the phone and both Shane & I talked about how much we loved the sauce and thin crust… the sauce is very very good… kind of creamy… more on the paste side… nothing like Pizza Time at all. Large pepperoni for $15 and some change..well worth it.

Sean September 8, 2009 (10:00 pm)

Do they take plastic? Otherwise, I am not going to give them my business, just like a certain local burger joint. Sorry to sound bitchy, but this IS the 21st century.

mike September 24, 2009 (1:14 am)

New Classic Arcades are in, Come check em out. Always free to play!

And yep, We take all major Debit/Credit Cards w/ no surcharge.

PS. Thank’s Giannoni’s, We appreciate the warm welcome. I must say it feels good to know we are not the only Independant Mom and Pop operation left in West Seattle. Thank’s Again.

ariverderci-
ci vidiamo!
Mike and Shannon @ Redstar

brizone October 1, 2009 (5:23 pm)

Please update the website so we know when your specials are, etc. (Folks need to be able to find you, online too…)

Mike and Shannon October 13, 2009 (2:39 pm)

Hey Everybody! We have updated the website to include correct contact info. Please look for the new specials and some major website changes coming very soon.

Prop’s to Local Artist Chris K. (myspace/timpa77) for starting a mural on the side of our building today despite the cold weather, drive by when you have a chance and see the progress!!!

If anybody know’s a local artist who would like to showcase there “for sale” artwork in our lobby please send them our way.

Also, We now have 2 kinds of delicious pasta and stuffed pizza rocket rolls, delizioso!!!!

brizone October 21, 2009 (1:48 pm)

Their 2-Topping Tuesday seems to be the best deal, btw.

J October 23, 2009 (9:52 pm)

LOVE THAT MURAL!

Eric November 4, 2009 (10:34 am)

Had a sausage/mushroom Pizza delivered and I normally would never write a bad review but this Pizza and salad was sooooo bad that we had to throw it out. They advertise fresh ingredients, well there was nothing fresh or good or quality delivered to my house. This was the WORST pizza I ever ate.

mike and shannon November 7, 2009 (9:17 pm)

Anyone not happy with our products is more than encouraged to return it for a full refund or replacement. If we made a mistake(we are human)we want the chance to fix it, no matter what. Your satisfaction is our number one prority.

Unfortunetly, we did not find a single order that could possibly match the one above on the 2nd, 3rd or fourth so we must call BS. Nice try guys, we must have all you competetors scared to try this low of tatic. Plus, bad salad?? We cut it from fresh whole leaf Romaine lettuce AFTER you order, if we dont have fresh salad we dont take orders for it. Bad salad? simply not possible.

Thank you for the warm welcome we have recieved from all our nieghbors.

Have a Red Star Day!

Sorry, comment time is over.