American soldiers in Iraq missed a restaurant back home so much that they set up a virtual version in Iraq, made possible by the restaurant itself.

Iraq by way of DuPont, WA; USA:  When the soldiers from Ft. Lewis military base in Washington State were deployed to Iraq, they soon realized that one of the things they missed the most was their favorite local pizza restaurant, Farrelli’s Wood Fire Pizza in DuPont, WA (www.farrellispizza.com); after all, it’s not easy to find a really good slice of pizza these days.  So the soldiers got together and contacted the Tacoma, WA based pizza restaurant company.  Their hope was that the company would send them some items overseas to remind them of the restaurant.  What they got instead was everything they would find in an actual Farrelli’s Wood Fire Pizza establishment, short of the wood fire pizza oven itself. 

Branded banners, beer signage, glassware and even authentic Farrelli’s clothing was sent overseas to adorn the walls and the soldiers in the virtual Farrelli’s Wood Fire Pizza in Iraq which has been named the Farrelli’s Triple Nickel; a co-branding effort between the restaurant company and the Ft. Lewis soldier company.  And, although it would be too difficult to ship actual pizzas overseas to the desert of Iraq, Farrelli’s came up with a solution, by sending certificates for each member of the company to enjoy a FREE pizza at any of their 5 restaurants upon their safe arrival back home to the states.

As a result of their continued support of the men and women of the Armed Forces, Farrelli’s Wood Fire Pizza was a recent recipient of the 5 Star Award, on behalf of the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve; an honor usually reserved and bestowed upon companies that employ Reserve Armed Forces members.  Occasionally however, this award is bestowed upon companies who do well to serve the men and women of our Armed Forces, as was the case in this instance.  Farrelli’s Wood Fire Pizza Co. was honored to be recognized for their efforts and will continue to serve the men and women who serve our country every day.