The Broadway location formerly home to the Zpizza chain stands empty this summer, pundits say, because of Seattle’s new minimum wage law. We don’t know what pundits will say about this. Come October, a new pizza chain will have moved into the same space. And the new owners seem way more into this whole $15 per hour thing.

“My friends and family brought it up more than people in the business,” Brandon Stottler tells CHS. “It feels more like the right thing to do to respect service workers and what they do.”

This fall, Stottler and business partner Ryan Flohr will open Ian’s Pizza on the Hill in the Broadway Building just north of Pine in the same space vacated by the minimum wage-challenged chain. Part of a small chain of Madison, Wisconsin-based pizza joints that proudly offers health insurance to its employees, the Ian’s philosophy is much more sympatico with Seattle’s pro-labor movement.

Its pizza is pretty out there, too. “We try to get really weird with our pizza,” Stottler said.

Since starting in 2001, Ian’s has made its name with a focus on by-the-slice insanity including “all-time bestseller” Mac n’ Cheese. You’ll also find creations like Smoked Brisket and Tots or Cheesy Potato with Ranch. Ian’s is also planning to bring its old school salad bar concept with new school fixings and farmers market produce to Broadway. “Hopefully we can get something going with the farmers there,” Stottler said of the Sunday market that will take place across the street every weekend.

With only four shops in Wisconsin, Colorado, and soon Seattle, Ian’s is a much smaller player than the Zpizza. Under Seattle’s minimum wage implementation schedule, it won’t be on the hook for a $15 minimum until 2019. Zpizza franchisee Ritu Shah-Burnham told CHS in April that the city’s categorization of her business as a “schedule A” large employer was forcing her to shutter on Broadway. “When I saw what I had to do — if I had seven years, it was doable,” Shah-Burnham told CHS. “But to do it in 24 months, it was going to be too much.”

Stottler, who has lived in the Central District for six months after moving to Seattle to open the new Ian’s, says he is looking forward to eventually opening more locations in the area. And, yup, they’ll probably serve Ian’s Seattle Dog pizza complete with a layer of cream cheese.

Ian’s Pizza on the Hill will offer pizza by the slice, whole pies, delivery, and beer and wine and is planned to open in October at 1620 Broadway. You can learn more at ianspizza.com.

Capitol Hill food+drink notes

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