Pagliacci Pizza

415 E Pike St, Seattle, WA

Last updated 8/27/2026

Pagliacci Pizza opened on February 19, 1979, at 4529 University Way in Seattle's University District, founded by Matt Galvin and Pat McDonald. That original location ran continuously — through countless remodels and face-lifts — until it finally closed in July 2018 after a 39-year run, a genuinely long life for a single storefront in a neighborhood that's changed dramatically around it. The pizza itself sticks to a straightforward, well-executed thin-crust format, sold through multiple channels at once: delivery, sit-down dining rooms, and pizza-by-the-slice counters, giving Pagliacci more flexibility than a typical single-format pizzeria. That range has let it become one of the most reliably present pizza names across the entire city rather than a single-neighborhood favorite. One of the more distinctive details across Pagliacci's dining rooms is decor built around vintage Italian-language movie posters — a small, consistent design touch that gives even the newest locations a sense of connection back to the original University Way storefront's era, even though most current customers have never set foot in that closed original. The chain has grown into one of the largest pizza operations in the region, with 24 locations spanning King and Snohomish counties, and it's kept pushing on operational firsts along the way — in 2012, Pagliacci opened Seattle's first stand-alone LEED-certified pizzeria in the Madison Park neighborhood, a genuinely early sustainability commitment for a regional pizza chain of its size and age. For a Seattle pizza list, Pagliacci is the essential "the name that's just everywhere, for good reason" entry — a 1979 University District original that's grown into a 24-location regional chain without losing the consistent, well-executed thin-crust pizza that built its original reputation.

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Top 6 Pizza in Seattle
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