Best Pizza:  Frankie’s Pizza

Valley monuments are pretty obvious: Mount Si, a roving elk herd, the Snoqualmie Falls – but when talking to residents about Frankie’s Pizza, it’s hard not to group it with local landmarks.

By Allyce Andrew • March 25, 2015 2:34 pm

Valley monuments are pretty obvious: Mount Si, a roving elk herd, the Snoqualmie Falls – but when talking to residents about Frankie’s Pizza, it’s hard not to group it with local landmarks.

Frankie’s Pizza opened in 1988 and is currently owned by Jim and Frankie Westlake and Chris Garcia, who started working there in 1989.

“(We) work hard,” said Garcia of North Bend. “We have great people who work for us and it’s a fun business to be in. It has its challenges at times, but so does everything.”

Frankie’s Pizza serves traditional and gourmet pizzas, ranging from cheese to elaborate pesto pies. What started as a Valley staple eventually spread to Issaquah, Maple Valley, Enumclaw and Bonney Lake.

When asked why Frankie’s has a special place in the hearts of Valley locals, Garcia attributes the love to quality service.

“We try to make quality pizza and offer good service and just try our best,” Garcia continued. “We’re not perfect. If we mess up, we just try to make it right with people and work hard.”

Although serving a quality product is an obvious, essential quality for an award-winning business, most attribute Frankie’s fame to sheer community service and generosity. Frankie’s Pizza sponsors two $500 scholarships for Mount Si High School graduates annually and donates to so many events that Garcia can’t list them all.

“I think that we do a pretty good job of giving back,” he said. “We do a ton of donations, scholarships, community volunteer work — we’re pretty active in the community and I couldn’t even tell you how many things we sponsor.”

North Bend’s manager Heidi Ayres has worked in the service industry for 10 years; she’s a Bainbridge Island native, but spent years traveling before she and her husband decided to move to the Valley.

“He’s honestly one of the best bosses I’ve ever had,” Ayres said of Garcia. She also praised his co-owners. “They really care about the community, which is nice because, with all of the traveling I’ve done, I haven’t had the chance to get to know a community. So, it’s like we actually have a place here, we feel like we have roots.”