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Serious Pie
Serious Pie opened in 2006 in downtown Seattle, one of the many restaurants built by Tom Douglas, the chef and restaurateur who's become one of Seattle's most prominent hospitality figures over a career spanning multiple concepts across the city. Serious Pie has been described as arguably his most successful brand — a genuinely notable claim given how many restaurants Douglas has opened and closed over the years. The pizzas themselves are thin, wood-fired pies built around unconventional, ingredient-forward toppings rather than a standard red-sauce-and-cheese approach — clams, nettles, soft eggs, and truffle cheese have all shown up on the menu, alongside the well-regarded Yukon Gold potato pizza that's become one of the restaurant's signature orders. That willingness to treat pizza as a genuine chef's canvas, rather than a simplified crowd-pleaser, is what separates Serious Pie from more traditional pizzerias elsewhere on this list. Reviewers have consistently noted that the wait for a table can run long, with one local guide describing the food as "worth the potentially long wait" — a real trade-off for anyone visiting the downtown location expecting quick, casual pizza service rather than a genuine sit-down experience with a chef-driven menu behind it. Serious Pie has expanded to multiple Seattle neighborhoods over the years, including Ballard, Belltown, South Lake Union, and a location inside the Starbucks Reserve Roastery on Capitol Hill, along with an outpost in Kirkland's Village at Totem Lake that opened in 2021 — a genuinely wide footprint for a concept built around a single chef's specific, ingredient-driven pizza philosophy. For a Seattle pizza list, Serious Pie is the essential "pizza as chef's showcase" entry — Tom Douglas's wood-fired, ingredient-forward pizzeria, built around toppings like truffle cheese and Yukon Gold potato that most traditional pizza kitchens wouldn't attempt.
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Big Mario's Pizza
Big Mario's Pizza opened its Capitol Hill location in 2010, backed by a group of Seattle hospitality figures including Jason Lajuenesse, Mike McConnell, David Meinert, Jordan Neff, and Mario Vellotti — a genuine cross-section of local restaurant and bar operators rather than a single chef-founder, which shows up in how confidently the concept blends a real pizza program with an unapologetic bar-food attitude. The pizza is built in the New York style — big, foldable slices sold both individually and as whole pies, the kind of format built for late-night orders and a fast in-and-out counter rather than a sit-down dinner. Thrillist summed up the vibe directly, noting there aren't many places in Seattle where a customer can "slug an Olde English 40 and bask in the glory of true New York-style pizza" — a description that captures both the pizza's quality and the restaurant's deliberately dive-y, no-pretension setting. Beyond the standard menu, Big Mario's has built a reputation for creative specials that push past a typical New York slice shop — macaroni and cheese pizza and rotating seasonal offerings keep regulars checking back for something beyond the reliable classic slice. The concept expanded from that original 2010 Capitol Hill location to Lower Queen Anne in 2015 and Fremont in 2017, growing into a small but well-regarded local chain without losing the late-night, cheap-beer-and-a-slice identity that defined the original. For a Seattle pizza list, Big Mario's is the essential "real New York slice, dive-bar attitude" entry — big, foldable, by-the-slice pizza built by a team of Seattle hospitality veterans, served in a setting built for a cheap beer and a late night rather than a quiet dinner.
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