West Seattle restaurants: Pizzeria Credo’s first night

Asked if tonight was a “soft open,” Pizzeria Credo proprietor Jacques Nawar said yes, but then “not too soft” – they are open to the public tonight until approximately 10 pm. Below, Nawar (center) with chefs Franco and Matt beside the wood-fired pizza oven at the front of the space; you’ll be able to see the fresh pizzas being created through the front window:

As noted in an interview with WSB last month, the space has been remodeled in a big way, including warmer colors “to brighten up the place” and lighting fixtures:

Nawar has planned a “smart” and “eclectic” menu, offering far more than the wood-fired pizza. Pizzeria Credo will also serve appetizers, salads, other entrees such as duck – a specialty, he says – and chicken. And yes there will be gluten-free pizza. Ingredients will be “as organic and local as possible”; Nawar says they are working with West Seattle Produce and looking for other local growers/providers with whom to partner.

Customer Elise enjoys her side car cocktail at the bar.

Pizzeria Credo is located at 4520 California SW.

onion April 16, 2013 (8:54 pm)

Sounds awesome. Duck pizza, perhaps?

burglarbustindad April 16, 2013 (8:55 pm)

Looks great!!!

thebeerjunction April 16, 2013 (9:14 pm)

Congrats guys! Welcome to the neighborhood.

shed22 April 16, 2013 (9:27 pm)

I want to eat that. Show us your menu!

mb April 16, 2013 (9:43 pm)

Love the look!!! Yes MENU!

Jonel April 16, 2013 (10:09 pm)

Congrats Jacques – can’t wait to come visit! Sounds fantastic

lisa town April 16, 2013 (10:21 pm)

Gluten Free Pizza and cocktails … YES!

curtis April 16, 2013 (11:32 pm)

I hope they serve Merlot……;-)

Bee April 17, 2013 (7:01 am)

Can’t wait to try the GF pizza

Nw April 17, 2013 (7:07 am)

Hope the cocktail lounge does not bring a mass of strewn cigarette butts out front like many of the drinking venues in the Junction. Please Pizzeria Credo place an ashtray out front for your customers and welcome to West Seattle.

leslie April 17, 2013 (8:52 am)

I stopped in to say hello yesterday afternoon. The remodel is beautiful, could hardly recognize the place. The staff was very friendly and let me peruse the menu, too. I’ll be back for the pizza very soon..:-)

Erin April 17, 2013 (9:24 am)

Congratulations! I’ll be in for dinner soon!!

Dan April 17, 2013 (11:58 am)

Glad to see gluten free and full bar. Thank you for going to the trouble.

Mike Boyle April 17, 2013 (2:31 pm)

Oven baked is the best. Get a web site soon!

West Seattle Hipster April 17, 2013 (3:43 pm)

Hope they have some gluten filled pizza for those of us who crave gluten.

Kip April 17, 2013 (3:53 pm)

Got castelvetrano’s?!!

pigeonpointer April 17, 2013 (5:56 pm)

Yeah! Gluten Free Pizza!

Brian M. April 18, 2013 (8:31 am)

We went there last night. Overall, it was a pretty good experience. The staff was friendly, the toppings were fresh, and the crust was especially good.
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A couple of things I would like to see:
1) Ask in advance if you would like the pizza sliced. It is sure better than being brought out the pizza and say, “We don’t normally slice the pizza”.
2) Put some oil and balsamic vinegar on the table. The crust is delicious, and it would be wonderful to take advantage of dipping the ends in it.

Liz April 18, 2013 (11:46 am)

What are their hours?

West Seattle Hipster April 18, 2013 (4:47 pm)

Pizza is not sliced? That can make for a messy dinner.

JTB April 18, 2013 (6:53 pm)

We had dinner here and were really pleased. There’s something very West Seattle about sitting in a minimalist dining area to enjoy a sophisticated and well-executed menu from start to finish. It completely satisfies my preference for a thin, leathery crust with interesting, well-balanced toppings, not to heavy on the cheese.

G April 18, 2013 (7:40 pm)

Prices?

Brian M. April 19, 2013 (6:52 am)

Pizzas were right around $15-20 for a small-medium sized pie. The pizza is not quite enough for two people (unless you had an app first), but more than enough for one person.

Sonoma April 19, 2013 (9:13 pm)

How does it compare with Pizzeria 22, which I like?

Betty Berlin April 19, 2013 (10:16 pm)

So $40 for pizza(s)for 2..not a lot of cheese and toppings? Doesn’t sound like a WS goldmine to me…

JTB April 20, 2013 (9:04 am)

Betty, I joked with the waitress, saying I thought they put too much topping on my pizza because I couldn’t easily fold or roll a slice without spilling a good amount of topping onto my plate and having to use a fork. We spent $80 + tax on two pizzas, a salad, four glasses of wine and two desserts. My wife only ate a half of her pizza and I left about one third to take home. I had the carmelized fennel, leek and sausage pizza and it was rich and robustly flavored.

JN April 20, 2013 (9:09 am)

The price is from $11 to $ 16 for the pizza!

WS Builder April 20, 2013 (9:16 am)

Tried it out last night maybe they’re still working things out but a couple things I noticed:

-Upon walking it took quite a while to be acknowledged by anyone even though there were several waitresses making the rounds and a couple empty tables available.

-Once seated took a long time for the waitress to come back to get over drink orders didn’t even bring water out to start.

-While we were waiting for our pizza we noticed not once but twice the wrong pizza was delivered to the same table also seeme like the wait staff was having a hard time figuring out what went where a lot of the time.

-Once we did get our pizzas my sisters came out without basil. Upon asking the waitress if it was supposed to come with basil after looking at the menu to verify, the waitress said “that one, I’m not sure” then took it over to have a few leaves haphazardly thrown on.

-Rather unattentive staff in general.

Overall pizza was pretty decent, the rest was just kind of sub-par. think for wood fired I’ll stick with Pizza 22…

Betty Berlin April 20, 2013 (12:16 pm)

JTB/JN – you guys convinced me. I’m on my way!

Ben April 20, 2013 (1:04 pm)

PCC still makes the best pizza!!

Greg April 20, 2013 (1:14 pm)

This pizza is awesome! We’ve been waiting a long time for some better pizza options in the Junction. Every member of the staff I encountered was friendly and approachable. Great place!

cathy April 21, 2013 (5:22 pm)

great place, great service, gluten free pizza yeah! cute bartenders a bonus!

Alex April 21, 2013 (5:34 pm)

GREAT RESTAURANT!
Relatively new to the area and happen to stumble across Credo. I was welcomed with open arms and felt at ease from the start. Great staff and very friendly owner. Really enjoyed the wood fired pizza. The bartender seems to really know his stuff! His drinks were off the hook! Had me buzzing with some awesome drinks that were going down like water. Overall a great place and have gone back a couple times.
It’d be cool to have a sporting event playing on the tv, but I’m sure they’ll take care of that.
highly recommend

Tim April 21, 2013 (7:42 pm)

REFRESHING new Pizzaria & Bar!
First of all would like to say that W. Seattle is an up and coming booming little town compared to what it was like 15yrs ago when I lived there. It is great to see so many new young businesses opening one of them being Pizza Credo. I came upon Pizza Credo due to a friend inviting me & and a friend to come have a drink and check out the place.
The moment we walked in the door and saw the pizza station at the entry, the wood fire pit and the pizza guys making pizza, was awesome. We liked the idea of people seeing how the pizza is made and getting somewhat of a show as it is being prepared.

We were immediately approached by one of the bartenders George who gave us menus, told us of the happy hour specials, and answered our questions on the food variations which are many.
We sat in the back corner obviously part of the bar and observed all the activity in the place as it was filling up fast. It was quite clear that this place was energized!!

The Bar is a small U shape gathering pond that felt very social and quite nice. The bartenders that were on duty were very friendly & social to the guests and I have to say mix a mean drink. I had a few to say the least. Wicked one might say.
One of the nicest things that happened was the owner came to the table and introduced himself and shook our hands and welcomed us to his establishment.
We ordered a pizza which was great and not over powered with masses of toppings.
Congrat’s Pizza Credo.

Steve Wright April 21, 2013 (11:18 pm)

I recently moved to West Seattle and have realized what a close nit community it is. In exploring the local jaunts I noticed a joint with paper covered windows, always a sign of something good to come, when they through it in your face they usually come up with nothing …once I noticed the paper had been removed I ventured in for a try, to my surprise an amazing authentic Italian pizzeria, a wood fired oven in the front window with a guy tossing the dough in the air, I felt like I was in Italy, come to find out there is more to come…have you heard of suvite style cooking, me neither, I found out by asking for a menu to go and was told NO…only because there is more to come, I can’t wait…All I can say is…you heard it from me…

Steve Wright April 21, 2013 (11:20 pm)

Maybe its suvi…my bad…we’ll see…

Sue Lindblom April 22, 2013 (10:34 am)

Warm, Friendly, Inviting atmosphere! The remodel from former owners is incredible. Everyone there seems so excited to be able to serve you. I have to admit I love the Italian accents some of the staff have! The fresh mozzarella on the pizzas is a real treat from other pizzerias. Great addition to the wonderful food The Junction has to offer. Can’t wait to back again and again…so many new flavors to experience… and not just with pizzas!

Sue L.

adry schettino April 22, 2013 (11:27 am)

‘m on vacation in Seattle and I am from Naples so I could not try the pizza I was at the pizzeria “22” and I had a decent pizza then I was at the pizzeria and I have to say that I ate not only a great pizza also the choice list was extensive and the welcome very warm and friendly, I spent a wonderful evening, thanks guys and good luck you deserve it adry s.

WSB April 22, 2013 (12:42 pm)

Dear folks:
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We now have multiple cases in this thread of multiple people trying to post essentially the same thing from the same IP address. Unless it is a known IP address with many users (library system, Boeing, city, county, etc.), it appears as if someone may be trying to game the system with multiple messages from one person trying to pose as multiple people. Though we don’t require log-ins, we do require people to use the same username if commenting more than once in a thread. We’ve unfortunately had to crack down because of past unrelated cases of abusing the system. Thanks and sorry! We will create a page in the restaurant guide soon for Credo, now that it’s open, and that’s another place you’ll be able to post reviews – Tracy

marta sciolti April 22, 2013 (12:18 pm)

hello everybody, I’m an Italian student … I lived two years in Naples, and now I am here for vacation to settle … and I visited the pizzeria I think, which I must say is my opinion, do the same pizza napoli … wonderfully exquisite in both places … i would like to congratulate the pizza chefs and staff for their hospitality and friendliness unique … I was really good … more complimenti.kiss

Kate Dowling April 22, 2013 (4:51 pm)

We took the kids to Credo’s last night for my daughter’s 13th birthday dinner. What a warm and welcoming space! Jacques and team could not have been more genuinely warm and friendly. We had a great bottle of wine (well, I did – not the kids :))and 4 pizzas. We would have done well with 3 but I had a great breakfast this morning :). They do not have “kid type” pizzas listed but just ask – the were more than accommodating for my kids. Dessert was fantastic – a cannoli and the juiciest lemon sorbet I have ever tasted served in a frozen lemon.
Welcome to this side of the ‘hood. I will still be visiting you at Abbondanza’s at Morgan Junction and I will definitely be back to visit Credo’s!

Renee April 22, 2013 (8:57 pm)

I work for a nonprofit and needed a place to go for a dinner meeting on Friday night with a loyal board member. I took a chance deciding to try Credo as my board member is quite the foodie. He beat me to the restaurant and he mentioned when I got there, just how nice the staff was making sure he had everything he needed as he waited for me.
Once I arrived Pedro and George at the bar were very attentive making sure we had everything we needed. After a bit of a discussion we ordered our food and continued on with our meeting. Before we new it we were served our pizza’s trying the marinara and the biacoverde.

Let me say, I am so picky when it comes to pizza and after that first bite, I was immediately in love… continuing our conversation with some nice wine and finishing up our meal I asked my board member what he thought (he hadn’t left a morsel of food) and he said what do you think! We opted out on dessert, due to eating too much pizza, but the chocolate genache cheesecake sounded amazing. The crust was amazing having a nice unique flavor from the apple wood I was told they use in their oven.

I have been telling everyone I know to head there soon and spread the word.

And I have been thinking about the pizza nonstop since I ate there on Friday… a sure sign of an amazing meal. Thank you Pizzeria Credo for taking it to a whole new level!

Denny Pirozzi April 23, 2013 (7:53 am)

Pizzeria fantastica !! Si mangia benissimo posto molto bello i camerieri sono gentilissimi, e la cucina e ottima, i cuochi perfetti, mi sono trovato veramente bene…

Pizzeria credo , credete ci è fantastica!

Sophia April 23, 2013 (3:16 pm)

Went to Credo for a quick bite before taking off from Seattle last sunday. My favorite is the fresh fennel sausage. What makes these pizzas incredibly delicious is the crust! I love that you can watch them make the dough. Salads are great to share. Ordered a cannoki for dessert and it was pretty awesome, for sure you won’t leave disappointed.