Pagliacci Pizza flirts with drone delivery as it expands near Redmond light rail

Pagliacci Pizza is expanding by adding a location in Redmond’s downtown near the light rail station.

The new location, located at 16311 Redmond Way, is set to open this October. The space was formerly occupied by AAA All Pro Auto Care, but Pagliacci has plans to expand the existing property to accommodate indoor seating for approximately 45 people, as well as an outdoor patio with 15 seats.

This will be Pagliacci’s 27th location throughout the Puget Sound region.

“What’s happened over the last 10 years, as everybody knows, is that the downtown core has just gotten more and more dense,” Matt Galvin, co-owner of Pagliacci Pizza, told The Puget Sound Business Journal. “For our business, where we’re doing pick up and delivery and slices, where there’s lots of walking traffic, it’s just an even more attractive destination for us.”

Part of the downtown Redmond surge is the launch of its light rail station last month.

Drone delivery could be part of Pagliacci’s future

The pizza chain partnered with Zipline, a drone delivery company, in 2023, and their partnership may lead to pizza deliveries via drone in the very near future.

“The drone is another component to reducing our carbon emissions,” Galvin told The Puget Sound Business Journal. “It’s a really compelling business case. We have this idea of a multi-pronged strategy of going to market.”

Zipline is currently testing its service by completing deliveries for Walmart in Dallas. As of this reporting, the drones can deliver up to eight pounds of cargo. Only a third of Pagliacci’s orders currently fit these restrictions.

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