Italian Family Pizza — Restaurant in Seattle

UPDATE: Thought I would check back on my review 6 months later to see if there was any response from the owner, but nothing, nada, zilch. So, I changed my rating to one star. Never going back to this place.

I ordered two items for pick-up and it turned out to be a strange experience. When I went to pick up my order I was told that they were out of lasagna, but the salad was ready. The young man at the counter said that the ordering platform (Slice) should have contacted me about the lasagna, but they did not. He went on to say that they have no control over Slice contacting me and if there is a problem it is their fault. (But, the restaurant has to notify Slice in order for them to notify me?!) So I asked if I could order something else which was fine. I ordered a small Margherita pizza and he said they were out of basil so I substituted mushrooms. Counter guy said it would not take very long and he was right. The young man making the pizza brought out my pizza shortly thereafter with the salad in a container, bagged, on top of the pizza box. I should have looked at the pizza then because half of the toppings with the cheese had slid off the pizza and was on the bottom of the box when I arrived home. I only live one block away. I didn’t know cheese could slide like that! I carried the pizza home very carefully, never jostled the box and I made sure I carried it like a full plate so sliding would not happen, but it did. So I reassembled the pizza (which was only partially sliced) and then took the salad out of the bag. It was upside down, plus they forgot the salad dressing. The restaurant was not terribly busy with people picking up their orders, which is the norm in this time of Coronavirus, and their menu is limited from the sit-down menu. I know these are tough times and everyone is trying to keep their heads above water, but if you want people to come back there needs to be more thoughtfulness put into the product being prepared. In my estimation the quality at this establishment has gone down. I thought the prices were a bit steep, as well. I do want to support local businesses especially now, however I want to get value for my dollar since I was just laid off. I do want to come back, hoping this was just a “comedy of errors”, but it will be a while before...

SUMMARY: It's okay. Slow but friendly service and ordinary pizza. Too bad my expectations were so high.

IFP does not have the best pizza in the Puget Sound area. I don't know, yet, who does, but this isn't it, for sure. There's nothing terribly wrong with the pizza, but almost every element is just a step or two away from very good.

The crusts on both of my 12" pizzas were cooked thoroughly but had little ability to hold their shape. I lost one slice's toppings to a lava-hot cheese slide before learning my lesson. The crust didn't have a lot of flavor but had a chewy texture that I really liked. I wasn't a fan of the amount of residual flour, either.

The sauce was, as other reviewers described it, "tangy." Even a hint of sweetness or body would have been welcome. Instead, I'd describe it as acidic and a bit watery.

The other toppings were good, but nothing to write home about. I appreciated the spiciness of the New Yorker which came topped with Italian Sausage, Ricotta, and Cherry Peppers.

I visited on a Friday night when there was a convention down the street, so I expected a longer than ordinary wait. I was told that it would be 35 minutes before my pizzas were ready. i arrived 45 minutes later and was told it would be another 15 minutes. I would have liked a more accurate estimate of my wait time since my parking time in the neighborhood is extremely limited, but rushes happen.

I paid $30 for my pizzas. That's fair. I would have paid the same amount in the late 1970's. Yeah, it's more expensive than Domino's but this isn't Domino's. The disappointing bit is that it's not that much better than what I might get at Domino's. I'll be happy to return here and I'll bring the whole family next time, but the first visit wasn't what I hoped...

When we crave pizza, the answer has been Italian Family for about the past year, but the last two visits have me questioning my choice. Where we once always found great quality and people who really cared about their customers, the past two visits have been between mediocre and just plain bad.

Service - still friendly, but they seemed to care more about socializing with each other and what time they could leave rather than checking on the customers - this was between 6 - 8pm each time, not like it was just before closing. Again, really friendly people, just not very interested in making sure the guests were taken care of.

Food - the salad went from tasty and fresh to water-logged and tasteless. Yes, I am very glad that the lettuce has been washed, but putting it in the bowl sopping wet and throwing on a few random pizza veg toppings just makes a soupy mess, not a good salad! It was NOT like this before.

Pizza was just really sloppy both times even though they were not at all busy. Take the extra minute to put the sauce evenly on the pizza so it doesn't get completely soaked in one area and bare in the other. Then break up those huge chunks of onion before you slap them on (again only on one side for some reason) no one wants GIANT chunks of raw onion on their pizza. Again - it wasn't like this before. I don't know if the manager has been out for the past few weeks or what, but it has been really disappointing.

I'll still give them a 3/5 because I know they are WAY better than the recent experiences indicate, but I'm on the lookout for another favorite...