Restaurateur Yasuaki Saito rolls the dough at three locations  in Seattle. And, the financial dough keeps rolling in, with a fourth location set to open in 2025.

Saito owns and operates Post Alley Pizza in downtown Seattle, Saint Bread in Portage Bay, and Tivoli in Fremont. Wayland Mill is expected to open this spring on North Lake Union.

He keeps prices at all three of his current locations reasonable, if not downright cheap. More fundamental to Saito and his business philosophy is contributing to the overall health of the communities where he runs businesses. He has tackled mental health, clinical dependency, and chronic homelessness at the micro and macro levels.

For Saito, an avowed lapsed Christian, Saint Bread is symbolic, if satirical. As referenced in Scripture, bread is produced and multiplied to feed a crowd, symbolizing the value of sharing and sacrifice, essential sustenance and compassion.

When he and Katherine Anderson ran the now-closed London Plane in Pioneer Square for 10 years, they often tended to unhoused neighbors seeking help. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, more than 20% of the population in Pioneer Square was unhoused, the largest concentration of any Seattle neighborhood. He continues to serve his neighbors at all three locations. In fact, the full name of his University District bakery is “Saint Bread, a Bakery and Community Space.”

“Sometimes, people would come in and need a little bit of time out from the rain and another guest would think, ‘Why is this unhoused person sitting at a table in the dining room?’ Well, it’s part of our commitment to do that sort of thing. They’re cold and wet. They just put their stuff down and get a cup of hot water or some coffee. Those are simple things you can do. Just do that because it’s the right thing to do. I can be a good human and not have to expect something from everybody.”

Saito has also volunteered his time to mental health advocacy groups such as the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), the largest grassroots mental
health advocacy agency in the country, speaking out to groups large and small. Over the years, he has also participated in Depressed Cake Shop, the fundraiser for the local NAMI chapter.

The care, peace of mind, and health of his nearly 60 employees are also a priority. He pays them well above minimum wage, offers paid sick leave, and closes his businesses twice a year to give his team a rest. Saito also credits his wife, Renee, for his success. She is “the rock” of the family.

“She does all the things that make it easier for me to do this work,” he says. “You need good people in your life that are going to take care of you and care for you.”