Pegasus Pizza is back in West Seattle, now in the West Seattle Junction at 4720 California Ave SW.
Photo by Patrick Robinson
Ted and Sarah Nicoloudakis have been through a lot.
Years of great business operating Pegasus Pizza on Alki Beach were coupled with waves of controversy and conflict regarding employee compensation and late rent.
They are deeply aware of their own history and how they believe it has been misunderstood. That business closed in December of 2022 due to missed lease payments
Next week, they plan to re-open in the West Seattle Junction at 4520 California Ave SW.
They have repaid all monies owed to their former landlord, and want to re-establish Pegasus as a neighborhood favorite but recognize some explanation and a bit more reparation is required.
“We heard all the rumors and it hurts,” said Sarah,”but we love West Seattle and really just want to serve the community.”
She even went so far as to say if anyone feels they are owed something to contact her personally and schedule a meeting to resolve it.
The facts are that operating a business on Alki has issues around seasonality. Great in the summer, not so great in the colder months. Against that backdrop they were required by their landlord at the time to condense the space they had leased so an office could be put in. Still, they took it as an opportunity to remodel and improve. Things were going well enough in 2018 and 2019 that they chose to open a new place near the stadiums. Business there was slow, then they had a burglary and lost a huge amount of product and had to pay for damages.
Then the double whammy hit. Covid and the bridge closure caught them in an extremely vulnerable time. They struggled to keep up but it was impossible. They closed the stadium bar, but were falling behind on lease payments. So far behind they could not catch up with apparently no way out.
It led to arguments,disappointment and anger.
The eviction notice came in December of 2022, just before Christmas. They were given three days to literally get all equipment, fixtures, everything out.
“I asked if we could have a day to say goodbye to our customers but they said no,” Sarah said. They knew they had debts, not just to the landlord but employees as well.
“We paid those debts and waited,” Sarah explained, “and heard lots of negative comments some of which I guess we deserved to a point.”
But they chose to move forward and during that time kept an eye open for a chance at another location. And a chance at forgiveness and to prove themselves worthy of people’s business.
They looked at potential locations, almost made a few deals happen around West Seattle but when the location at the former Credo Pizzeria became available they negotiated and signed a lease.
There’s been an update to the space with simple and elegant tables, a dining bar for extra seating in the back and some booths as well. The couple aims to bring back all the neighborhood favorites from Tom’s Special to the Italian Chef Salad. Sub sandwiches, lasagna, cannelloni and manicotti, and even clams and shrimp are on the menu.
They have had their chefs return and lots of questions as they put up the name on the awning outside. Free pizzas have been going out to the Junction merchants as a way of introducing themselves to the neighborhood as they continued work on the inside.
“All we can do is our best, all we want to do is serve the community,” said Sarah.
Pegasus is now open from 11am till 10pm daily. Full cocktail bar is available. Happy Hour is 2pm to 6pm. Call (206) 932-4849 to order.
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