By Mwiza Kalisa

In an age where one poorly constructed salad can result in a terrible instant review, businesses have to be aware of their online presence and reputation. Many business owners rely on popular social media sites, like Facebook and Twitter, to survive.

Pie (3515 Fremont Ave N), is among the local businesses that use social media to engage customers. The restaurant, which specializes in sweet and savory mini pies, maintains both a Twitter and Facebook page.

“It’s a good way to reach a lot of people in a very short amount of time,” said Jess Whitsitt, co-owner of Pie. Whitsitt created a Facebook page for the business, four months before it even opened. “I thought it would be good to start teaching people what we were about to come out with,” she said. The restaurant posts daily menus and sometimes they tweet three to four times a day.

Whitsitt believes that Pie wouldn’t be nearly as successful without social media. “I think it would have taken us a lot longer to build our client base,” she said. “We opened to many customers the very first day that we were in business.”

Pie customers interact and contribute their ideas, for flavors, through social media. The restaurant has 618 followers on Twitter and 1,192 “Likes” on Facebook. “It’s fun to get feedback from people and see smiles on their faces via the internet,” Whitsitt said. “I guess that’s the way they’re showing us that they appreciate what we do.”

Because of the high cost of print advertising, Whitsitt only uses social media to promote the restaurant. Dusty Strings Music School (3406 Fremont Ave N) also connects with customers through Facebook. Up until four years ago the music school communicated with students through The Quarter Note, a quarterly newsletter.

Adam Burdick, the music school director, created a Facebook page for the school a year and half ago. Events, special workshops and information about classes are all posted on the school’s Facebook page. “I know that [Facebook] is definitely creating more awareness that we’re here,” Burdick said.

While the music school uses Facebook to connect with students regularly, the music store Dusty Strings isn’t using social media yet. “It takes a certain amount of effort to be fresh, to post something everyday,” Burdick said. “There hasn’t been the focus of providing that. It just hasn’t happened, but as people see the value of Facebook for the school it will happen for the store as well.”

Dusty Strings co-manager Gary Davidson, likes the immediate response of connecting online. “While we have not been on the cutting edge of using social media, we do recognize there are a lot of people using it,” he said. Davidson added that it’s hard to measure the impact that social media has on the school, but it has contributed to the attendance for some musical events.

Lance Brough, owner of Kylie’s Chicago Pizza, admits that sometimes it’s hard to draw attention online. “Bigger pizza places struggle with how to connect and how to make it relevant,” he said. The pizza joint uses Facebook, Foursquare and Twitter to promote specials and charity events. “It’s a good way to have an information hub,” Brough said. “A lot of restaurants are able to connect with customers and people that don’t know about their business.”

Without interactive websites and during a time where most people tweet, businesses like Kylie’s Chicago Pizza know that they have to be pro-active about shaping their business online. Brough says that sites like Twitter help build relationships. “As an individual they take the time to send a tweet that says something about your business,” he said.

Brough says that they’re considering a Google+ page. They’re still thinking about whether they will use their current social media sites and Google+, or if they will concentrate on one site.

“The world is changing all the time, and I think to have a strong presence [online] is very important,” Brough said. “We have a presence, but we need to have a better presence.”

When Fremonsters have a craving for some award-winning deep dish pizza, they’ve always had to wait until dinnertime to get their Kylie’s fix. Starting today, they can dig in to a Chicago-style pizza at the Fremont spot as early as 11am.

Keep an eye on Kylie’s Twitterfeed for daily specials and updates.

This Thursday, April 28, is the 18th annual Dining Out for Life event. Throughout Puget Sound, restaurants will donate a percentage of each diner’s bill to support Lifelong AIDS Alliance.

Participating Fremont restaurants are Blue Moon Burgers, Caffe Vita and Kylie’s Chicago Pizza. You can book a reservation on the Dining Out for Life site.

You can also enter for your chance to win amazing prize packages (packages will be announced in April) when you dine out at a participating restaurant on Thursday. To enter, simply ask your restaurant’s staff for a raffle envelope and drop it in the Dining Out For Life donation box.

Wednesday, April 6th, dozens of restaurants across the region will participate in Red White Unite, and donate 10% of their total sales to Peace Winds America for disaster relief in Japan. Participating Fremont eateries are:

• Brad’s Swingside Cafe (4212 Fremont Ave. N.)
• Chiso (3520 Fremont Ave. N.)
• Kaosamai Thai (404 N. 36th Street)
• Kylie’s Chicago Pizza (3601 Fremont Ave. N.)
• Uneeda Burger (4306 Fremont Ave. N.)

See the full list of participating restaurants.

If you own a drinking establishment that caters to the sporting crowd, the next four days are your Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa wrapped up into one special time.

St. Patrick’s Day is today, March 17th, meaning there’s going to be a lot of green, a lot of stranger-hugging and a lot of singing along to ‘Sweet Caroline.’

The NCAA Tournament’s opening rounds are also today through Sunday, so there will be meaningful, do-or-die basketball games on TV from the moment you wake up til the moment you go to sleep.

So, word to the wise, don’t be shocked if it takes a little longer inside The Dubliner, Red Door, LTD, Dad Watson’s, George & Dragon and Woodsky’s to get your can of Rainier today. Don’t be shocked if there’s a cover at one or two of them either.

Some of the specifics include…

• Woodsky’s is having a huge party with drink specials all night long, including Jameson Shot Ski’s.

• The Dubliner is having their usual no-frills, day-long celebration with: tasty food, drinks, and musical performances including Whiskey Galore (who are often compared to the famous Celtic group The Pogues, if you’re a fan). Expect a $5 cover starting in the late afternoon.

There will be plenty of St. Patrick’s Day deal around town, like Kylie’s Pizza, where they’re serving up a Corned Beef & Cabbage deep dish pizza. Not to be outdone, Pie is offering a Corned Beef, Potato & Cabbage Pie.

On the March Madness front, if you’re looking forward to rooting for the hometown Washington Huskies, you’ll have to wait until Friday. They’re set for tip-off at 6:45 p.m. Friday night. If you want a seat at the bar, wherever you are, get there early.

LTD Bar will be open at 9am every morning over the next four days to make sure you have a place to watch each and every game.

If they win, the Huskies will play again on Sunday, though the game time is currently TBD. Check out the full schedule for Thursday and Friday’s games here.

Items of interest from around the Fremont area…

• Huzzah and kudos to Kylie’s Chicago Pizza, which was named Best Pizza in Seattle by City’s Best.
• The Fremont Players are putting on a Panto (traditional, humorous British holiday plays) at Hale’s Palladium during December.
• Wondering how much rain Fremont has gotten over the last week? A lot.
• Marination Mobile, which is parked in front of Indoor Sun Shoppe (160 N. Canal St.) every Wednesday, gets a great review here.
• The ‘Hood Hunt, a series of map-based scavenger hunts, is being held in Fremont tonight at 5:30 pm . Meet at Solstice Plaza (SE of North 34th Street & Fremont Ave) to join in the fun.

Eat in or carry out from Kylie’s Chicago Pizza (3601 Fremont Ave. N. #101) Wednesday, and 50 percent of the day’s sales will go toward a group participating in the Susan G. Komen 3 Day walk.

Owner Lance Brough said, “A couple of months ago I was approached by some regular customers about supporting their participation in the Susan G. Komen 3 day walk. I suggested we could do what we are doing tomorrow, where we have a day when we donate a portion of the sales to their fundraising.”

Brough said the customers, who live in Queen Anne, have been coming to the restaurant since it opened seven months ago.

“It was just something I was looking to do to support the community, we have done few other things, giving away pizzas and gift certificates to Fremont events, but this was the first thing that was participation driven,” said Brough, whose mother is a breast cancer survivor. “We are a new, small restaurant but we will be doing it for all sales tomorrow, so dine in or pick up, 50% of the money will be going to research a cure for breast cancer.”

The remodel is complete.  The product has been taste-tested.  Now the wait is finally over.  I just talked to owner Lance Brough and found out that Kylie’s Chicago Pizza (3601 Fremont Ave N, in the former Mad Pizza space) is opening its doors TONIGHT for dinner.

Bear in mind that this is a soft opening as they continue to get things in order.  For example, beer and wine won’t be available for another couple of weeks and the web site isn’t up yet, so please be patient.  The inch-and-a-half thick pizza baked in a pan (available in 10″ or 12″ sizes) hopefully will be more than enough to keep your interest.  Don’t worry, thin crust is available, too.    

Kylie’s won’t be open tomorrow for Thanksgiving but they’ll resume business on Friday.  After that, they’ll be open Tuesday through Sunday from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. (11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays).