MOTO Pizza West Seattle — Restaurant in Seattle

Unfortunately was one of my worst restaurant experiences. We received attitude and spite, specifically from the cashier named Rachel.

We went in, chose two pizzas on the tablet, were considering a third and Rachel joked we can buy 5 pizzas and have them sell out. We laughed and bought one more pizza. Rachel told us that she would call us our name when the pizza is ready. Friend #1 paid for the total bill, and when on the tip screen, friend #2 entered 0 for the tip. Rachel, watching, says “what a great friend you have”. Never have I thought a restaurant would give their guests sass for not tipping on a takeout order.

We sat outside, waiting as other guests picked up their pizza. I watched as the staff called out other guests’s names. It was cold outside and we were one of the last guests there, so finally after 20 minutes we went to ask them about our order. Rachel responded saying we should have gotten a text message. There was nowhere in the payment process where we were asked for our number, and I saw she was calling out other guests’ names for their orders. This means she purposely did not call our name, even though we were sitting outside the entire time so if she glanced out toward the benches, she would have known we’re still outside waiting.

At that point, we were offput by her tipping comment and not telling us our order was ready, but didn’t think too much about it. A couple minutes later, we realized we not only did we never enter any phone number but we also did not receive a receipt of any kind. So we went back to ask for a receipt. (I had left at this point so am relaying what happened from here.)

Friend #1 goes back to ask for a receipt, saying they didn’t notice there was a prompt for the receipt. Rachel said that it’s probably because our friend put no tip. Friend #1 brushed off the comment, thanked her and walked out. As he walks out, Rachels shouts at him “sorry there was no text so you got your pizza late”. Friend #1 said she said all this in a sassy attitude. Again, I saw every other group get their order after having their name called, so Rachel purposely did not call our name.

Friend #1 told friend #2, which then friend #2 walked in to speak to Rachel and ask for her name. He told her that he felt it was very disrespectful to not only make comments about not tipping multiple times but to also keep us waiting longer to spite us. Her response was that she wasn’t talking about the tip but was explaining the situation of why he did not receive the prompt. Friend #2 also mentioned he never got a text as well, she says she pressed a button to text us, and feigned ignorance (even though she told us she’d call our name too).

This was a very sour experience, and honestly I was scared to even eat the pizza, who knows if Rachel had spat in our food? The pizza was also unfortunately room temperature and slightly soggy by the time we...

MOTO is one of those pizza places that opened to huge hype and had lines all around the block, down Fauntleroy, and extending all the way out onto the bridge. I knew there was just no way I was going to get to try it until they'd been open at least a year or three. Today, I happened upon it again and saw that they'd opened up for "same-day orders" and I tapped with such haste that I nearly shoved my finger straight through my phone.

I'm glad I got the chance to order and I'll very much be back. We had a Beef Adobo, a Root, and an All-In. The dinner-sized pizzas are cut into four good-sized slices. The website advises 1 pizza for 2 people. You might look at the pizzas (as I did) and think "there's no way", but I assure you, as someone who can really put away the pizza, two slices is plenty and you may end up with leftovers. The richness and thickness of each slice is very satisfying and filling. It is a little visually deceptive.

The All-in is your kind of standard pizza. It's super tasty, the pepperoni shines through, the sauce is rich and vibrant, and the cheese has the right amount of chew. The crust is soft all the way through, just on the other side of "floppy" but the browned cheese adds back some crunch. If you've got some folks that are a little hesitant, this pizza'll win them over.

The Root is a Mushroom pizza w/ black olives, and balsamic glaze. The mushroom mix has a good variety and the balsamic is fragrant. The restraint on ingredients gives you a better pie than the All-in as each ingredient stands out more prominently. Folks who would normally want an all-meat pizza preferred the Root over the All-in.

The Beef Adobo is in my opinion: where it's at! While it might not be for everyone, I loved it. The balance of salty/sweet/sour/savory just lit my hair on fire. The flavors meld and contrast in such a way that you can't stop eating it. Even now, I'm stuffed to the brim, but I want another taste. The kimchi is a good addition because it adds some crunch and reinforcing the sour notes, but it's very mild in both flavor and spice. The beef is salty (not overly so) and rich. The garlic sauce and the cane vinegar add a creamy and sweet/sour flavor respectively. It all comes together in a symphony that is more than the sum of it's parts.

I'll definitely be back to try the rest of...

You might remember going to Coldstone Creamery in the early 2010s and seeing a menu item called "Staff Creations.""" Staff were encouraged to add items to the menu that they had concocted themselves for customers to sample. The problem was that the staff were children and not proper chefs, so the food didn't have any balance; just sweet on sweet on sweet. That's how I feel about Moto Pizza. We got 4 pies since we were going to have 4 people, but it ended up being 2 of us due to having to reschedule our order due to a family emergency earlier this year. We got the Pepperoni, Clam, Kissd, and Shrimp pies. As I carried them to the car, the bottoms of the boxes were soaking wet. Eating the pizza, you can tell someone knows crust. Shaped well, good texture, and flavorful. Eating the pizza, you can also tell that someone missed the balance of pizza. Salt on salt and rich on rich while being absolutely drowned in grease. Papa Pete's got away with a million tiny pepperoni because they used low sodium meats, but these are so unbelievably salty, it's laughable. The flavor of the clam will blow your mind, but the richness makes it inedible after a bite or two. The shrimp were hard and overcooked while the stupidly flavorful sauces were overshadowed by the grease and salt. Every single pizza leaked through the paper and through the cardboard box by the time we got home and made a stain on my seat cover. I can't believe this was the intended product, but it's what I was served. My shout-out goes to the staff. When we needed to change our pickup day, they jumped into action and communicated sympathy. I've never had a pizza restaurant check in on me and my family down the road to make sure we were doing well, but Moto Pizza staff emailed us a couple of times. Walking into Moto, we were greeted like longtime customers and treated extremely well. But I don't think I'll make another order...