After a 65-year run, the Northlake Tavern & Pizza House closed its doors at the end of January. On Wednesday, August 30, the destination near the UW campus reopens as Big Mario’s Northlake Tavern to carry forth the Seattle pizza legacy. The restaurant is located at 660 Northeast Northlake Way in Seattle. Hours: Sunday-Thursday 11am-midnight, Friday-Saturday 11am-2am. On Husky home game days, Big Mario’s Northlake Tavern will be open two hours before kickoff.
Six weeks were spent with previous owner, Abdullah, to support him in his retirement and the closing of the Northlake Tavern. The Big Mario’s team saw the incredible outpouring of love for the owners, the nostalgia for the business, and its significant place in Seattle’s bar and pizza culture. It was through this crash course of operating this historic spot, that the idea of restoring and the rehabbing with new energy and a fresh take on pizza became the mission rather than closing its doors forever.
What was initially anticipated to be a two-month break for cleaning and kitchen work, turned out to be a 7+ month, full-blown restoration project. The original bar had to be completely torn out due to wood rot, along with the entire kitchen, bar floor, back bar cabinets, and office. An entirely new storefront was rebuilt to mitigate years of water damage. Owner Jason Lajeunesse said in a statement: “The project took on a much bigger scope than originally intended. While we thought the space would make a perfect Big Mario’s upon hearing of its closing, and imagined this a simple flip, we quickly discovered that the space and infrastructure needed a full extensive rehab.”
Big Mario’s will continue the tradition as a haven for specialty pizza, beer, and televised sports. Painstaking care was put into rebuilding and refurbishing the original bar, booths, and stools. Much of the memorabilia was carefully preserved like the collection of cartoons from David Horsey, Seattle’s Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist, and will be rehung throughout the building. Big Mario’s Northlake Tavern will offer a full bar with tap cocktails, and signature in-house crafted and hand-tossed dough. Lajeunesse says. “Northlake Tavern was a favorite destination for Seattle including UW students, alumni, and their families over the many years. It was important to us to keep the core tenants of the Northlake intact.” Updates include Big Mario’s NY Style whole pizzas and pizza slices, liquor, games, a takeout window, all ages seating, a beefed-up retail take out section (including beer, wine, slices, snacks) and a private event space.
Big Mario’s offers a classic Sicilian style crust. The dough is proofed a second time and is stretched out into a pan that gives it a stronger, thicker base for more toppings. The Northlake Tavern was known for thick and heavy pizzas with toppings piled sky high. As a salute to the old Northlake Tavern, Big Mario’s will offer two of their most cherished topping combinations on our Sicilian crust. The Northlake Logger (Sicilian style pizza with Canadian bacon, Italian sausage, black olives, fresh cut green peppers and onions), and the Northlake Classic Combo (Italian sausage, pepperoni, fresh mushrooms, black olives on Big Mario’s Sicilian crust). Both will be available in house and for takeout. A Northlake Lager has been created in partnership with Fremont Brewing Co. “We are excited to get this place back open and offer quick grab items like slices, beer and wine, in tandem with our whole pies that guests have come to love while watching a game or catching up with friends inside the Northlake Tavern,” says Operations Manager, Melissa Satterly.
Starting Friday, September 1, DJ’s will rotate in on Friday and Saturday nights to offer the same music that customers have known from Capitol Hill’s Comet Tavern. Soon there will also be a covered back patio with TV’s and speakers.
