Idyllwild Pizza Company celebrates 30th birthday

As Idyllwild Pizza Company nears its 30th anniversary, the Crier sat down with founder Ken Dahleen, and his daughter and present owner Kenna.

The Dahleens opened the business Nov. 13, 1993, with a “soft” opening on the 12th, Kenna’s sister Windeen’s birthday. Ken and wife Cheryl got married there on Valentine’s Day, three months later. Since then the place has become a local institution; a family restaurant open seven days a week, and a place for youth to hang out, shoot pool or play arcade games, and do their homework over pizza.

TC: Had you ever run a restaurant before?

Ken: I had run a lot of different businesses, but my wife Cheryl had been in the restaurant business for about 15 years.

TC: How did you decide on pizza?

Ken: The honest truth is, I was tired of seeing the local youths hanging out by the telephone booth (downtown) being corrupted by derelicts. I decided to open a business that would be someplace they could hang out in, and not get in trouble. We put in a pool table and the game room, hoping that families would hang out, and it worked. We had pretty much the same menu Kenna is doing now.

Kenna: They drop off kids, they stay and do their homework, from the academy too, they still come out here, when it’s snowing it’s warm in here.

TC: Not just a restaurant, a community center?

Ken: That was our goal. We figured if we sold 20 pizzas a day, we’d pay our bills. The day we opened we sold about 80.

TC: How many a day average?

Kenna: Enough to pay the bills, but it feels like millions.

TC: When did you pass the torch to the new generation?

Ken: Cheryl and I had it 12 years. In 2003, Kenna was coming home from Hawaii and she wanted to move back to Idyllwild, wanted to know if she could have a job here. I said, “I’ll do you one better. I’ll sell you the business.” She’s had it ever since.

Kenna: I was having a baby, my first child Brighten.

TC: How has the place changed since then?

Kenna: We changed the names of sandwiches from jazz instruments. The key things are the same, why mess it up?

Kenna: Another fun thing is to employ the young people, getting their first jobs. They grow up in this building.

Ken: I see people on the street and they say “Do you remember when I used to work there?” Now their kids are working here.

Kenna: There are generations of families that have worked here. My kids have been working here since they were little. I think Brighten and Kekona started here when they were nine.

Kenna: It’s been a pleasure to keep this family-owned, family-operated. Literally all of our family has worked here. Four generations: Ken’s great-grandchildren have worked here, bussing. During the labor shortage, I hired my mom.

Ken: When something needs fixing, guess who gets called? I get a pretty good deal on food here.

TC: Do you still eat a lot of pizza?

Ken: I’m a salad guy now. I had heart surgery a year-and-a-half ago. They kind of clamped down on me.

TC: How many employees do you have now?

Kenna: Right now we have 18. In the summer we have more like 25.

TC: Any shout outs you’d like to make?

Ken: Much of the credit for our immediate success goes to Paul Keys of Sysco. He’s now the number three there.

TC: How did he help?

Ken: His family had a pizza business in Temecula. He knew what we needed and how to do it. In the very beginning there were a lot of people in the community who wanted this to succeed. We got a lot of help from people.

Kenna: I’m super grateful for the community for supporting us. During the pandemic some people were super supportive of us and the employees. They came in and continued to patronize us even though there was limited seating and there were lock downs. We did a lot of take out. It’s not just tourism, it’s the locals that make it so special. We’re open every day to feed the people. A lot of restaurants up here are not. There is a delivery lady in this town, Cynthia, Bear Necessities. Google it. She serves everyone. I always thought someone needs to do that up here since we don’t have Uber, GrubHub etc.