Changes coming to Tacoma pizza shop known for NY-style slices. Plus, a ‘Slice Garden’

Salamone’s Pizza in Tacoma and its sister restaurant in University Place will soon have new owners and new names, but one thing will stay the same: the 18-inch, New York-style pies.

Two employees, Victor Mitchell and Ismael Monstesinos Gonzalez, have agreed to buy both businesses, founder Steven Salamone told The News Tribune in a phone call. Staff was informed last week and is anticipated to continue under the new ownership.

Little will change at the original pizzeria in the Stadium District, save for the name. It will soon transition to Broadway Pizza.

Although Salamone will continue to be involved as general manager, he said it made sense to drop the personal attachment.

“This whole thing was a memory of mine. I just wanted a decent slice like from when I was a kid, growing up in Brooklyn,” he recalled.

He hoped to some day bequeath it to staff, and after a much-needed vacation where he found himself unable to focus on spending time with family, he decided it might be time to pass the torch.

Mitchell, who first worked for Salamone soon after the first shop’s 2018 debut, will usually be found at Broadway Pizza, where whole pies — named after NYC neighborhoods — will continue along with slices. The shop has also been making Grandma-style pan pizzas, available as the full 14-inch square and by the piece.

“I absolutely love making pizza,” said Mitchell, who Salamone admitted is a better tosser. Pizza is an art and a science, added Mitchell, and “just a blank canvas — you can put anything on pizza.”

Meanwhile, Salamone’s Pizza and Pasta will close its UP restaurant and move less than a mile away to Fircrest — under the updated name of Slice Garden, led by Montesinos Gonzalez, who has cooked in many restaurants in Tacoma and Seattle over several decades.

It will be “a dream come true to own a restaurant,” he said.

That new address, 1039 Regents Blvd., might be familiar as the home of Sammy’s Pizza, which closed earlier this summer. (The Sammy’s on I Street and Yakima Avenue in the North End, meanwhile, is now called Bigfoot Pizza & Bar.)

Whew, this is a lot of pizza news!

The UP space, formerly home to Ale House Pub, just never took off, said Salamone. He had envisioned refashioning the pull-tab area into a wine bar, but “no matter what I do, it just feels like a sports bar.”

The menu did expand to include pastas, including a made-to-order alfredo, entrees like chicken piccata and a trio of hot subs. Still, continued Salamone, “We sell more pizza here than anything else.”

SLICE GARDEN TO OPEN IN FIRCREST

The Fircrest kitchen is already well-equipped for pizza, but it doesn’t already have a full stovetop. They considered spending the time and money to make it so, but the people want pizza — so they invested instead in a four-deck PizzaMaster oven.

“The great thing about the PizzaMaster is it gives you flexibility,” said Salamone. “Each deck can run at a different temperature, up to 800 or 900 degrees,” with additional control over the heat emanating from the top and bottom. “This thing — it’s a beast.”

What that means for customers is a menu that will feature around six different styles of pizza at a time, hence the name. In addition to New York and Grandma pies and slices, they anticipate incorporating a Roman style (similar to Neapolitan but sliced in thin rectangles, usually street-side), a Chicago deep dish and crispy tavern (the thin-crust more commonly consumed by Windy City locals), among others.

“Every style of pizza you can imagine under one roof,” said Salamone.

The Fircrest restaurant will have a full bar and table seating, but if you just want to “grab a box of pizza and leave,” that’s OK, too.

Salamone’s Pizza and Pasta will remain at its current UP location through November or December, depending on when Slice Garden is ready to go.

SALAMONE’S PIZZA / BROADWAY PIZZA

▪ 24 N. Tacoma Ave., Tacoma, salamonespizzeria.com

▪ Daily 11 a.m.-9 p.m.

▪ Whole pies and pizza by the slice; order ahead by phone or online

SALAMONE’S PIZZA & PASTA / SLICE GARDEN

▪ 2122 Mildred Street W., University Place, 253-565-9367

▪ Daily 11 a.m.-9 p.m.

▪ Slice Garden will be located at 1039 Regents Blvd., Fircrest — target opening November 2024