Nick-N-Willy's Pizza Revs Up Old Favorite

----------------------------------------------------------------- Restaurant review

Nick-N-Willy's World Famous Take-N-Bake Pizza, 15 Lake St., suite 103, Kirkland, 889-8118. Hours: 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday to Thursday; until 9:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Checks accepted. -----------------------------------------------------------------

"Hmmmmm. Forty cents for each topping," mused the customer at the counter, rifling through a wad of dollar bills. "You're gonna get rich off me."

Maybe. Just two months old, Nick-N-Willy's World Famous Take-N-Bake Pizza hopes to capitalize on the concepts that made it into a franchise. Take the American mainstay pizza, add pizzazz in the form of fresh, exotic toppings and sell them ready to bake in the customer's own oven.

Pizza, Nick's knows, has come a long way. The Kirkland joint isn't afraid to experiment, either, offering a daring repertoire.

Consider pizza topped with refried beans and salsa, or marinated Thai chicken or even barbecued chicken. It's all prepared fresh and fast, with the owners assembling the sauces and dough by hand with all-natural ingredients.

Customers want quick, convenient and exotic pizza, said Scott Sand, who owns the restaurant with Craig Patterson. Beaming in their Nick-N-Willy's logoed T-shirts, the men handle the business with chatty conversation and efficiency.

From Boulder, Colo., they acquired their pizza know-how from one of several Nick-N-Willy's franchises. Nick's didn't revolutionize the take-n-bake concept, but recognized its intrinsic appeal.

Nick's offers only slices for in-house eating. A generous slice with fresh tomato sauce or olive oil glaze costs 99 cents - a price that rises to $3.25 for a slice with five kinds of meat. Regular toppings cost 40 cent each; gourmet 75 cents.

The to-go pizzas come in small, medium and large. They vary from $5.75 to $8.25 for a small; $8.25 to $13.25 for a medium and $11.25 to $15.75 for a 14-inch large. Most pizzas require only 10 minutes to prepare.

Nick's also offers reasonably priced salads and sandwiches, including a "dolphin-safe" white albacore tuna sandwich with apples and sunflower seeds (whole, $4.50).

But pizza is the game at Nick's. "There's nothing like eating a hot, fresh pizza right out of the oven watching a football game," he said.

Oddly, that brings us to Nick-N-Willy's greatest deficit. Despite the co-owners' energetic charm, the only real atmosphere came from a TV broadcasting a college football game. The business is clearly designed for take-out traffic, with no-frills counter seating and decorations. Nick's does come with a view of Lake Washington from across a parking lot, but decor - like seating - is minimal.

Nevertheless, a couple munched happily next to me on the communal counter. Another couple kept submitting new orders as soon as they downed their current ones.

Within five minutes, Sand presented me with my first slice. The Penny Lane ($2 a slice) offered layers of new cheese flavors, revealing themselves like a peeled onion. Each new bite offered mozzarella, Swedish fontina, feathered Swiss, then gorgonzola. I reached for the red pepper sprinkles, craving more flavor, yet grateful for the limited grease.

Next came the Aegean ($2.50 per slice): sun-dried tomatoes, fresh spinach and feta cheese. Richer than the earlier slice, but still mild.