South Sound loses beloved music venue, pizza restaurant to COVID-19
By May, Louie G’s was supposed to have a new owner for the third time in its 13-year history.
The buyer, said current co-owner Peter Kesling, who bought the business from its namesake in 2016, was eager to continue the Louie G’s tradition of brick-oven pizza and live music for all.
The ensuing story is, at this point in the coronavirus pandemic that has upended American life and killed more than 160,000 people, like a broken record.
“The pandemic hit, the stay-at-home order hit, the you-can’t-have-a-restaurant-basically hit. This pandemic has killed the business,” Kesling told The News Tribune in a phone call this week.
The buyer backed out. Louie G’s will close for good Aug. 29.
Kesling and his wife Katherine McDonough broke the news in a Facebook post, to which thousands reacted and hundreds commented. The message thanked its legions of customers — from touring bands to the nearby port workers who frequented for lunch — and alluded to but did not name the coronavirus.
“It is with a heavy heart full of a mixture of sadness and gratitude that we write this message to you all. A combination of global and local circumstances has led us to make the very difficult decision to close Louie G’s Pizza,” the post read. “The challenges facing all of you and us are daunting.”
Not even pizza — arguably the most recession-proof, delivery-friendly food there is — could save this one and its 18 employees.
“My grandpa used to say, ‘When you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging,’” said Kesling. “We have a 9,000-square-foot facility. We need to be able to have these lives shows in order for us to make ends meet.
“I needed to have butts in seats.”
TWO-FOLD DILEMMA
The pandemic walloped Louie G’s in two distinct ways: first, lunch business, which was more profitable than weekday dinners by a long shot, shriveled as the manufacturing sites in and around Fife thinned their workforces; and second, live entertainment was muzzled until Phase 4, or a return to “normal.”
Despite the odds, Kesling remained optimistic through the first three months, as western Washington awaited its entry to Phase 2 of the state’s recovery plan, for a potential autumn return to live shows. In the meantime, he and his team lobbed an idea at their enforcing agent at the Washington State Liquor & Cannabis Board: seated shows, with tables six feet apart, extra space between the stage and the audience.
“We had this perfect idea, we thought,” said Kesling. “But very clearly the answer was no.”
As cases of COVID-19 spiked across the state, confusion ensued over whether live entertainment could safely happen under existing social distancing restrictions. Comedy clubs closed, and one even transformed into a full-service burger restaurant.
In the past few weeks, said Kesling, “it just became patently obvious that it was just fantasy.”
‘MUSIC ISN’T GONNA DIE’
The original owner, Louie Galarza, introduced live music at the pizzeria in 2012. Kesling and McDonough continued that cause, hosting regional acts to national touring bands as well as an annual outdoor summer festival.
The venue got in hot water in 2014 when the city of Fife suddenly required a conditional-use permit to have a stage and live music. The application process would have required a $5,000 deposit to pay for both city expenses and a formal hearing which threatened the long-term viability of the business.
The community wouldn’t let that stand. They rallied around Louie G’s and pushed the city to waive the fee, which it did later that year. Supporters chanted, “Louie! Louie! Louie!” as they left the meeting victorious.
Unable to host shows for much of 2020, Louie G’s livestreamed on Facebook performances from bands including The Whole Bolivian Army.
The indie rock band had played one of its first public shows in nearly 30 years last October on the same stage to celebrate their new album release.
“Louie G’s feels like family to us,” said guitarist Matt Kite. “Over the last few years we’ve gotten to know the owners, the soundman, the doorman, the booking agents, and several people on the staff. Their enthusiastic support of local music has been invaluable to the music community. We’ll all miss them terribly, but we understand how hard it is to keep a music venue afloat, especially during a pandemic.”
On Wednesday, The Whole Bolivian Army opened for headliner Watch Rome Burn at the going-away show for the venue fittingly called One Last Dance.
“Like all bands right now, we miss playing to an audience. It feels like the music world has just come crashing down, thanks to COVID-19,” Kite told The News Tribune beforehand. “To lose Louie G’s in the middle of all this just feels like insult to injury.”
Jestyn Cummings, drummer for Watch Rome Burn, shared the sentiment.
“We’re all super gutted about the loss of Louie’s. It’s a special place, and it’s been the epicenter, in my opinion, of the South Sound scene for a long time,” Cummings said. “To have a music scene, you have to have great bands and great music as a primary. But then you have to have a place to incubate them. You have to have venues and a place that allows people to rub shoulders and meet each other and allow artists a space to grow in. Louie’s has been that for us.”
Kesling recognizes the hole.
“It breaks my heart honestly that local musicians are going to have fewer places to do what they do,” he said. “One thing I learned doing this is there is a palpable but unable-to-be-defined energy that exists around local music.”
Louie G’s isn’t merely a business for him either: After many years together, he and McDonough (who also runs Kate’s Cakes from the restaurant) got married on that stage and celebrated in that restaurant. Their kids have worked there.
Louie G’s was but one destination for live music. In that sense, Kesling is optimistic.
“Music isn’t gonna die — it’s gonna find a new place to be,” said Kesling, who has returned to his previous life as a personal injury trial attorney. “There will be other venues that can survive this. In the long run, everything is gonna be fine.”
The last show can be seen Louie G’s Facebook page along with previously recorded performances.
LOUIE G’S PIZZA
▪ 5219 Pacific Hwy E., Fife, 253-926-9700, louiegspizza.com
▪ Hours: Monday to Saturday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5-8 p.m., through Aug. 29
This story was originally published August 13, 2020 at 11:00 AM.
