Seattle's Child

Your guide to a kid-friendly city

Seattle chef Ethan Stowell's new Frelard Pizza Company mixes play and pizza

The kid-friendly sibling to the family-filled Ballard Pizza Company focuses on three main ideas: hearty portions, low price points and quality ingredients.

 

ā€‹Ethan Stowell had a very busy June. The prolific Seattle chef opened the stylish Goldfinch Tavern inside the Four Seasons Hotel downtown in the same month he officially unlocked the doors to his unfussy, totally kid-friendly Frelard Pizza Company on Leary Way.

Stowell tells Seattle’s Child that the kid-friendly sibling to his family-filled Ballard Pizza Company focuses on three main ideas: hearty portions, low price points and quality ingredients. Large cheese pies (and we mean big — a family of four probably won’t be able to polish one off) are $18. Sides aren’t an afterthought, either: pair the carbs with fresh arugula or chickpea salads.

Photo: Joshua Huston

Frelard's umbrella-shaded outdoor patio looks out onto the water. 

 

Order at the counter, then grab a seat in the big, bright dining room that opens onto a patio with tables covered by bright-red umbrellas. On a recent Friday night, classic ’80s music comprised a killer soundtrack and tables of couples and families filled the space.

While the closest comparison to Frelard Pizza Company’s pies, served whole and by the slice, is New York-style pizza, Stowell says the restaurant serves “just good pizza,” and instead of riffing off a particular pie style, is “meant to be about serving neighborhoods.” He imagines parents swinging by for pizza after a Little League game, grabbing a beer after work while kids hang out in the built-in play space, or picking up a pie to go on a night when they don’t feel like cooking but still want an affordable option.  

Photo: Joshua Huston

Kids can play and make art with chalk inside Frelard's play space.

 

If you live or work in South Lake Union, get ready: Stowell is planning a third pizza concept to open in the neighborhood to serve the tech crowd (play area not included.) Frelard Pizza Company also delivers to nearby addresses. 4010 Leary Way NW, Seattle, grubbbrospizza.com

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Sara Billups