Popular Tacoma New York-style pizzeria opening second location in Pierce County
Reporter’s Note 1/19/2023: Plans for Salamone’s second restaurant changed. Salamone’s Pizza & Pasta will take over the Ale House Pub, 2122 Mildred St. W in University Place as of Feb. 1, 2023.
Salamone’s Pizza, which has served its New York-style pies from Tacoma’s Stadium District since 2018, will soon open a second restaurant — this one full-service with a menu of pasta, sandwiches, Italian entrees and a bar.
Almost seven miles from the original, Salamone’s Pizza Pub will land at 7315 27th St. in University Place, just east of Bridgeport Way, hopefully later this year.
Owner Steven Salamone said he always planned to open another outpost, but it took four years to find the right space, in the right neighborhood, at the right price.
“I know I’ve wanted to do something bigger,” he said in late June, noting the challenge for both employer and employee to make a living off selling slices. The second outpost will assist his desire to offer benefits to staff as well. “Being able to sell entrees and sandwiches and appetizers, and a full bar, is just going to be a great thing for us.”
The original Salamone’s, a counter-serve operation with a few tables downstairs and a few on a mezzanine, was designed to resemble a pizzeria in Brooklyn, where the owner was raised. After two decades on Wall Street, he moved to the Tacoma area with his family and longed for a proper slice.
When the Stadium shop opened in August 2018, it was the only reliable source of the 18-inch New York style, with foldable cheesy slices available for under $4, in the Tacoma area. Pie names range from the Tribeca with sausage, pepperoni and olives to the Brooklyn Bridge, white sauce with spinach, meatballs and mushrooms. (Last year, Vashon’s Camp Colvos opened a Tacoma taproom with its great take on New York-style pizza.)
“We were successful from the beginning,” Salamone said. “It’s just blown up since then. We just do what we do, which is make great pizza, and thank God our community has responded to that.”
In addition to a bar with beer, wine and Italian-leaning cocktails — an old fashioned with amaretto, for instance — the menu in University Place will add several sections with a handful of items in each: salads, appetizers, pastas and other mains, such as pasta carbonara and chicken parmesan.
“It’s kind of the concept of something for everyone. They want a hamburger and you want a pizza,” said Salamone, likening it to The Cloverleaf, Tacoma’s iconic pizza and pub in the West End, albeit with a very different kind of pie. “This is the place for you because we’ve got both.”
Thanks to a much larger kitchen, he also teased the possibility of pizza styles beyond the 18-inch New York, mentioning an affinity for Chicago’s deep-dish. (Incidentally, a Chicago-themed restaurant is opening in Spanaway.)
He has been actively working on the new restaurant for a couple of months, but the process began last fall.
A majority of the 1600-square-foot space was long ago a Pizza Hut Express, though the interior was gutted to the point of no recognition he said, while the rest housed a Crossfit that moved north near Tacoma Community College.
In an effort to retain that convenience and classic vibe, he plans to carve out a dedicated quick-serve area with a separate entrance for to-go slices and takeout orders. The other entrance will lead to the dining room and lounge, with plans for televisions, a jukebox and perhaps a pool table.
SALAMONE’S PIZZA PUB - UNIVERSITY PLACE
▪ 7315 27th St. W, University Place, salamonespizzeria.com
▪ Details: full-service restaurant with New York-style pizza, pasta and more, plus full bar; construction underway
SALAMONE’S PIZZA - TACOMA
▪ 24 N Tacoma Ave., Tacoma, 253-444-2646, salamonespizzeria.com
▪ Daily 11 a.m.-9 p.m.
▪ Details: New York-style pizza by the slice $3.25-$3.75, whole pies $22.95-$31.95; dine-in or takeout
This story was originally published July 7, 2022 at 5:45 AM.