Atlantic Street Pizza

This was great pie. Too bad it closed.

God I miss this place! I remember in the early nineties when the U-district’s Great Pizza Wars were raging and fully 80% of the Daily was taken up with pizza coupons. Only one held our interest: Atlantic Street’s ‘Noid Basher’ (or simply the ‘Basher’). I guess they were competing pretty hard with Domino’s, but we didn’t care. The thing was a double-​pepperoni double-​cheese extra-​large extra-​thin crust work of art! I think it cost nine bucks, not especially cheap by my standards of the time, but holy crap that was an awesome lot of pizza! The chewy crust, the spicy sauce, the well seasoned pepperoni… excuse me, I had to wipe away some drool. You had to wait a little after getting it for the cheese to firm up so the crust could hold it all. Oh man! Greasy spicy goodness!
I remember that a few years later we were moving my friend to a new place (eighteen compact truckloads! The guy has a serious pack rat problem.) and for sustenance he ordered three Bashers. Even though Domino’s ‘Avoid the Noid’ campaign had ended years earlier, Atlantic Street had kept the Basher as an off-​menu item. I’m pretty sure it still cost us nine bucks too! I went to pick up the pies and the guy working the counter said that someone had ordered four Bashers and hadn’t picked them up. Would I like them for an extra ten bucks? Hell yeah! There’s nothing like working a full day moving boxes only to end it stuffed to exploding with freaking awesome pizza like some kind of bloated tick (um…who eats pizza.)
I drove past earlier this year when they wouldn’t pick up the phone for my order. Gone. Dammit!

My buddy (pizza fan) from Kansas came to out to chill, so wanting to impress him i order a large Atlantic Street Pizza to go. On the way home we bumped into some ladies outside my apartment and offer them couple slices of our pizza. After finish the remaining of the pizza, it was so good we wanted more, we were even contemplating whether or not it would look bad if we went over to the ladies apartment and asked if they had a slice that they didn’t finish. It was that good, as we were talking about it, we heard a knock on the door, sure enough the ladies came to see if we had anymore slices left over. Using pizza to get ladies ridiculous!

Harry is missed dearly.
I drive by there in hopes that it is still around.
What I miss is his meatballs. He would always tell me that you can’t get this stuff anywhere. It was imported from east coast or something like that. Boy, it sure tasted great.

I remember when Harry first opened. It was like ’89 or something. There where no seats then just a window. He was always busy delivering to whatever band was in town that night.
Oh but the pizza… the pizza. This was so good.
He would never yeast his pizza dough so it was so dense and chewy, the pepperoni was spicy and he always put it under the whole milk mozzarella. the bubbling cheese and the perfect pep under. Me and my boys used to order and walk across the street to a long gone laundry mat where they had tables and chairs and just grub…
Those poor saps doing laundry always had a scowl!!! HEHE!
RIP HARRY!!! You live on in our hearts!

ever have a pizza that was so heavy… your arm got tired of holding it?
this is the kind of pizza i ENJOY. the kind where it’s piled with so many toppings and cheesy goodness– you have to use a fork & knife! the pizza alone is what keeps me addicted. i seriously have dreams of this place.
being that i’m in NY now– and everyone says i’m «SO LUCKY» to eat such wonderful pizza. the truth is… i miss Altantic Street Pizza. i’d take that pizza over any NY slice any day. (waiting for the NY’ers to shank me for that) it’s THAT freakin’ good. sometimes i couldn’t wait to open the pizza box at home– so i would take it to one of their tables inside (or the outside bench) and scarf down a slice. i’m salivating at the memory.
back the heavy thing… i once carried two boxes of large pizzas on my lap as my friend was gunning it through 45^th street… in his Nissan at 80mph to Montlake (where i lived). my legs felt numb from the heat and the weight of these gargantuan things! oh, the pleasure and pain i felt when i finally inhaled the pizza.
i can’t wait to visit this heavenly place again.
R.I.P. to the best pizza maker ever– Harry.

5 stars for the Garlic Gulch alone. I am scared though, I checked their online menu and didn’t see it there! Someone reassure me?
SAPPY: When I first moved out here from New Jersey 9 years ago, my new boyfriend treated me to a garlic gulch pizza and it was the best damn pizza I’d ever had. We’re still together and we still love the occasional delicious gut bomb that is the Garlic Gulch.

one does not speak ill of the dead. it’s hard to when it comes to Harry’s pizza-​refic creations. the garlic? the cheese? it’s all good.
granted, sometimes the cheese had a weird spunky taste that didn’t sit well with me, but their pesto was to die for.
i’m sad about harry, and i love atlantic street.
that is all i will say on that.

The garlic gulch from atlantic street is one of the best and i mean best pizza’s ever. My mom loves this place. in fact, when we went there, she bought another pizza, froze it, and then took it to korea so my dad could taste it. crazy? just a little, but if you love something then it is bound to make you a little crazy. i mean ask that NASA lady.
as for the reason why i’m giving it a meager four star instead of five, it’s because of Dirty Harry. Although he is nice, he kinda gives me the creeps because he is like that guy you see at clubs who just stares and makes these comments at you that just makes you feel awkward. i can’t stand that at a club, so at an innocuous pizza joint, i really can’t stand it.
BUT I HIGHLY SUGGEST YOU GET A SLICE esp. if you’re from out of town. from what Harry has told me, he wanted to make the best pizza, so he traveled all across the country trying to perfect his receipe. That’s why if you see the crust, it’s thick so that you can dip the crust in sauce. (then he did the creepy stare/​comment thing afterwards)
update:
Dear Harry,
I am very sad of the news of your passing. You truly were a master of your industry, and I am truly sad that my future children would never know of the goodness which is the garlic gulch.
my mother in particular, was upset of the news of your passing, because she wanted to know the receipe so she could have taken over your shop. Remember how she froze a whole pizza to take back to korea with her so she can have my father and other family members try it? Harry, you truly were famous.
know that though i did find you creepy, your pizza was delectable and i will miss it many times over.
RIP Harry. RIP.

I used to live behind Atlantic Street/Harry’s Famous Pizza. Harry the owner is an innocuous vulgar man in his mid-​life, who I like to think could be my very own dirty uncle Harry.
Harry, Jerry, Dano, & Mike (i think there is a woman working there now) are great people who will serve your pizza piping hot. If Harry likes your dog (he likes mine) he will throw your dog 2 lbs of meat from the line. (if you go behind the sandiwich shop next door, you will see a portrait of my dog «emo»)
Décor: Last year Harry added a BBQ/​employee lunch room outside of the store, switched out the furniture, added a neon sign and a new sign. It looks great with the montage of tattered autographed pictures from mostly bands, athletic teams, and politicians.
Pizza: Thin pizza with thick crust, sweet sauce and lots of cheese. He has great combos, anything with garlic you will be smelling like it for 2.5 days. You will need lots of napkins.
Harry and his antics are amazing. He makes music, you should ask him about it. Also he promised me a pizza named after me, maybe I will take him up on the offer and call it «Taiwan is Awesome».
***UPDATE: I just found out that Harry passed away in November 2006. I feel like a jerk for not visiting more often. Harry was a really great guy who made a lot of friends and made the north end of the Ave a fun place to visit. Here is a blog to read more about Harry:

Am I the only one confused about this place? The amazing pizza hasn’t changed but the venue sure has. The only tables are right next to the bathroom (which smelled) and the place was filthy. And the biggest change? The name: Harry’s Famous Pizza. They bill themselves as «serving the original Atlantic Street Recipe.»
We grabbed our slices and stood outside to eat them, since it didn’t make much sense to risk our own health in the dingy inside atmosphere. Did I just catch them on a «bad night»?

Wow, it’s been over 2 years since I went here, but I can still remember the pizza. Good crust, tangy sauce, combined with juuuuust the right amount of cheesy goodness and spicy pepperoni.
Dam, I need to go back!

sour dough crust, I am in love?.. maybe a little. The autographed band memorabilia also make s this one of few pizza shops that i would want linger. In one framed photo BECK says this is the best pizza on earth… I wouldn’t go that far but it’s probly pretty darn close.

Great pizza! They aren’t kidding when they say this.
Rated «Best Pizza» by Seattle CitySearch, MSN Network, and Editor’s Choice. Along with former President Bill Clinton, the clientele includes just about every major rock act that has played in the Northwest for the last 13 years! It’s proven on the walls!
Made with real homemade bagel French bread crust, garlic wine sauce, and a five cheese blend that is guaranteed to melt in your mouth. YUM!
All of the pizzas are made with your choice of three homemade historic sauces. Their special dough is all natural, with no sugar and no yeast, and is proofed for a full 18 hours! Smoothered in mozzarella and romano cheeses, the pizzas truly capture the flavors that made the Garlic Gulch a gastronomic paradise.
This place ROCKS!