MSG150: Seattle International District Lunch Food: March 2012

Back in July a small band of MSG150 lunchers stopped by the newly opened World Pizza to try a slice or two. Our story was lost for a time but now is found and published here for your enjoyment.

World Pizza, Seattle
Address: 672 S King St, Seattle, WA, 98104
Cuisine: American: Pizza
Average rating: 3.8 chopsticks
Lunch date: 7/15/2011 @ 12:05:00
Time taken to be seated: 0 minutes
Time to take order: 0 minutes
Time for food to arrive: 2 minutes
Total lengh of meal: 14 minutes
Chopstix quality: None
Do they use MSG?: No
Where is the owner/chef from?: The two brothers are from Seattle
Number of tables: 5
Number of occupied tables: 3 (60%)
Number of business lunch tables: 3 (100%)
Number of "local" tables: 3 (100%)
Healthcode Score: 25
Links: Yelp!, Urbanspoon

Luncher: Adam

Lunch: Roasted Red Potato with Rosemary and Gorgonzola Pizza, and Pepperoni Pizza - $6.00
Rating: 4 Chopsticks

Adam's Review

I can't decide whether opening a pizza place in Chinatown is incredibly smart or an incredibly bad move. On one hand, there isn't any competition for pizza in this neighborhood at all. On the other hand, this neighborhood isn't really known as a pizza destination.

I'm assuming that someone wrote an intro to this article, so I'm going to skip the premise and backstory and get straight to the food. The basic: the crust is great, it has a nice chew to it and wasn't burned past recognition. The sauce was a little on the sweet and spicy side, a plus in my book. The "pepperoni" was pretty good. But the Roasted Potato pizza was g-r-e-a-t. I have a pretty strong association between rosemary and Thanksgiving dinner, so just smelling this pizza made me salivate.

Since they're in the International District, they have Sriracha. I partook; it was a great addition.

Luncher: Geary

Lunch: Artichoke Hearts and Olive Pizza, and Tomato with Feta - $6.00
Rating: 4 Chopsticks

Geary's Review

Good pizza and beer on tap in the International District? Could it be? It is true. They's guys are doing it something great, even without the meat. Did I mention they have beer on tap?

Luncher: Emmett

Lunch: Pepperoni Pizza, Red Pepper with Pesto Pizza, Greek Salad - $10.50
Rating: 4 Chopsticks

Emmett's Review

Delicious. The warm red interior invites us in. Pizza slices are splayed before us. Turns out there are no meat toppings on any of these pizzas. But they do have Field Roast Pepperoni, which, while different in flavor from the meat cousin, is a nice topping in its own right. I had a slice of this - fresh, hot, crust was that nice in-between of crispy and doughy, delicious tomato sauce, enough cheese. Top notch slice pizza. The second slice I had was pesto, feta, and red bell peppers. It's similar to the only pizza I tend to order from Pagliacci's - verde primo - which is great because it has BOTH pesto and tomato sauce. It's a winning combination. This slice was slightly saggier, didn't quite have the structural rigidity/crispiness of the first slice but good nonetheless. I look forward to the leftovers later today.

The winner though was the greek salad. I fucking love greek salad, which is superior to all other salads. For $4.50, it's a good size - not huge - but would pair nicely with a slice of pizza if you're hungry or on it's own if you want something lighter. Lots of big chunks of cold fresh cucumber, feta, a delicious sweet/tangy dressing, some onion, tomato, artichoke hearts and italian parsley. I could see the lady cutting everything fresh after I ordered, which was a nice bonus.

I missed them the first go-around in Belltown but happy they're back.

Luncher: Perry

Lunch: Pepperoni Pizza, Red Pepper with Pesto Pizza - $6.00
Rating: 4 Chopsticks

Perry's Review

World Pizza certainly offers a rare combination of delicious vegetarian pizzas (in fact they only serve vegetarian pizzas) in the I-District. Located among landmark Buddhist and antique shops on King Street, it is a nice landscape change for someone seeking a dash of non-Asian culture. It is surprising how it fits nicely with the rest of the shops in the area, accentuating that ID is actually an international hotspot.

The staff was friendly and welcoming. I ordered two slices, one vegetarian pepperoni, and other one red pepper with pesto. I recommend both of them. The fake pepperoni is made of chewy gluten, and the pesto is delicious. The bread has some rosemary seeds which makes it feel different to the mouth. My coworker also ordered a salad; they are rich in flavor and filled with fresh vegetables: olives, peppers, and nicely chopped cucumbers.

The place is also a café and has a great atmosphere. There is no big table. We came in a group of 5 so we had to sit near the entrance in a bar style sitting. But there is an orange sofa in the corner which I imagine would be good for a group of 5 comfortable holding their own food. Overall, I would go there again in a group.

Luncher: Mariya

Lunch: Artichoke Hearts and Olive Pizza, and Greek salad - $7.50
Rating: 3 Chopsticks

Mariya's Review

Pizza is pre-made and, unless perfectly timed, slices need to be reheated in the oven. Reheating is not a problem except potentially making the crust hard. The crust is good although unusual – it is dense and resembles cake crust. The slice was not greasy, and the artichoke and olives toppings tasted great. The Greek salad is small, no lettuce, tasty, but my first had a hair in it. They remade it at no cost.