MUKILTEO—Owned by husband-and-wife duo Lance and Lisa Mitchell, The Sound Pizza and Pub, formerly Sully’s Pizza, serves the residents of Old Town in Mukilteo with a completely revamped menu, remodeled interior, a full-on beer and wine bar, and a focus on customer service at its core.
Prior to Lance and his wife Lisa taking over Sully’s Pizza the two held long-term careers working for the food and beverage industry. The bulk of Lance’s career was with Deschutes Brewery, where he worked for 21 years, and most recently as a distributor for Rancho La Gloria, a startup which specializes in ready-to-drink margaritas.
Lisa Mitchell, on the other hand, is the daughter of former Mukilteo Mayor and Restauranteur Emory Cole who owned Emory’s on Silver Lake in Everett. Separate to that, she works as Director of Sales for Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits.
Having both grown up in, and around, the food and beverage industry, the Mitchells had always wanted to open up a place of their own so when family friend Brian Sullivan, the owner of Sully’s Pizza, was looking to sell his business in 2022 it only seemed natural they would seize the opportunity.
The Mitchell’s purchased Sully’s Pizza from Sullivan in October of 2022 but the pizzeria, which has since been renamed The Sound Pizza and Pub, officially opened in December of 2022 following a couple months’ worth of renovations while awaiting permits and licensing.
But the name was not the only thing to change from Sully’s Pizza. The Mitchell’s repainted, remodeled the bar, renovated the kitchen, added more beer taps, installed new televisions, and revamped the menu to “elevate” the food while still paying homage to the neighborhood pizzeria many have grown up loving. An example of that homage is continuing to offer their “Sully’s Pizza” which has been a crowd favorite in Mukilteo for years.
“The only thing the same now is the chairs,” joked Mitchell.
The Sound Pizza and Pub serves a, one-sized, thin crust pizza using a house-made sauce, locally sourced dough, and a five cheese blend. The restaurant does not serve single slices but it does offer smaller-sized pizzas for kids. In addition to its house-made sauce the restaurant makes all of its dressings from scratch in-house.
For first timers Mitchell recommends the garlic cheese bread, a crowd favorite according to him, tempura green bean fries, and the pub wings. Separate to that, he added you really can’t go wrong ordering any of their pizzas, calzones, or salads – the restaurant’s namesake.
The Sound also offers vegetarian and gluten-free options with the ability to sub out any pizza dough with cauliflower crust.
“We’re generous with our toppings, our pizzas are big, our salads are big, you get hearty portions, we try to do most things in house. Because we are in an old house our philosophy is it should feel like walking into someone’s home,” said Mitchell. “You walk in and see all of the Christmas decorations, the fireplace, my mom’s piano which is 57 years old by the front door, it’s all like stepping into someone’s home and that’s how we want people to feel, and we also treat you like family.”
The restaurant also has 12, constantly rotating, beer taps all craft brews that exhibit uniqueness and quality, Mitchell informed the Lynnwood Times. While the beer list constantly rotates he said, beer heads can always expect an IPA, a pilsner (which goes great with pizza), a bourbon barrel aged, and a nitro beer on tap. Other than that, beers tend to reflect the seasons. The fall and winter, for example, guests can expect to see a lot more darker beer choices.
The Sound Pizza and Pub intentionally only serves beer and wine to maintain a family-friendly atmosphere.
With customer service at its core Mitchell said his staff are the true heart of operations with their servers taking time to remember guest’s names, their children’s names, and birthdays so when you walk in for your special day you can expect balloons attached to your seat and a candle affixed to your desert.
“Mukilteo is definitely a community and a lot of people have been here their whole lives. They’ve been here, they’ve been raised here, they’re raising their family here. We often say that it’s a small world in Mukilteo. And that’s what we wanted; we wanted a friendly neighborhood pub like they do in England. Every neighborhood had its pub where they go and that’s their place,” said Mitchell. “When you come here, you’re going to leave full and you’re going to leave happy.”
To go along with that neighborhood and family feel, Mitchell said that whenever the restaurant makes adjustments to its menu they always bring out samples to their guests to weigh their input so guests feel like they are part of the process.
While the Sound Pizza and Pub only has eight tables, and seven seats at the bar, they offer takeout options and additional outdoor seating on their heated, and umbrella patio with spectacular views of the waterfront. The restaurant also utilizes seating in the nearby Lincoln Square courtyard as needed.
“We always say at the Sound it’s not about the food, it’s not about the beer and wine, it’s about the people,” said Mitchell. “The people that work for us, the people that come here.
The Sound Pizza and Pub frequently engages with its community offering catering services for parties or events at the nearby Rosehill Community Center and beyond, and participation in the Mukilteo Lighthouse Festival.
The Sound Pizza and Pub plans to make minor adjustments to its menu, including adding new appetizers, and a featured ‘Pizza of the Month’ that will not be on the normal menu.
The Sound Pizza and Pub has a 4.8/5, out of 68 reviews on Google, and a 4.6/5, out of 19 reviews, on Yelp. Reviewers praised the food and celebrated the warm, and welcoming, customer service with some claiming it is some of the “best pizza in Mukilteo.”
Author: Kienan Briscoe
