About Kaleidoscope

Who We Are

When Kaleidoscope creators Jake Allmaras, Kristi Haavig, and Ben Allmaras set out to establish a gourmet pizza restaurant in the Rogue Valley in 2004, they never could have predicted the restaurant’s ensuing success. For them, Kaleidoscope was a vision, a dream, and a necessary leap of faith. With Jake’s expertise as an attorney, Kristi’s 18 years of experience in merchandising at Nordstrom, and Ben’s pizza making expertise as a kitchen manager at one of the top pizzerias in America, the Moose’s Tooth in Anchorage, the three decided to leave Alaska, settle in Medford, and put the plans for Kaleidoscope in motion. Today, Kaleidoscope has a vibrant, growing customer base, and it has become one of the “must-eat” restaurants in the Rogue Valley. Kaleidoscope is a weekend tradition for resident Rogue Valley families, a highly coveted work place for Rogue Valley youth, and a permanent fixture against the beautiful Southern Oregon backdrop. We are immeasurably proud of what Kaleidoscope has accomplished, and we look forward to many more, bright, colorful years to come!

Our Name

Each Kaleidoscope is unique and provides changing views. That reflects our approach of constantly adding new choices to our menu and atmosphere. Pizzeria appears before Pub in our name which is no accident because our primary product is our food.

Our Staff

Our staff is the most important part of Kaleidoscope because it is the cornerstone of our commitment to quality.  We hire for attitude and train for skill. Our servers are people-oriented and enjoy what they do. We promote only from in-house. We emphasize diversity. The Kaleidoscope staff alumni include many who have worked their way through school.

What We Do

Kaleidoscope is a full service family-friendly restaurant specializing in gourmet pizza, calzones, salads, soups, appetizers and desserts. The menu also features a large selection of wines by the bottle, local wines by the glass, 17 micro brews on draft, rotating taps, and a full-service cocktail bar. Like its namesake, Kaleidoscope Pizzeria is always changing, always evolving, and always offering new menu items. The food, the atmosphere, and the customer service at Kaleidoscope have garnered consistent support from the local community. Award-winning Kaleidoscope has been voted “Best Pizza” in the Medford Mail Tribune annual Readers’ Choice poll and in the Medford Sneak Preview every year since opening its doors in 2004. According to Pizza Today magazine, Kaleidoscope is one of the top five most successful independently owned pizza restaurants in America. The hands-on owners of Kaleidoscope are incredibly thankful for the support we have received from locals, visitors, friends, family, AND our incredible staff. We look forward to many more happy and successful years!

Our Food

One of our core values is quality without compromise. Almost every food item served is prepared from scratch with the highest quality ingredients. We use special 100% all-natural cheese. Each pizza is hand-stretched and tossed from dough that we make fresh every day. Whole wheat and gluten free pizza options are also available. Each salad is individually made to order from produce that is delivered daily to ensure absolute freshness. And all salads come with our own dressings.

Core Values

Our restaurant operates with these core values:

1. Make no compromises about quality by serving only from-scratch food made with the finest and freshest ingredients.
2. Provide an enjoyable and casual dining experience to each and every guest from the moment you walk through the door until we say thank you and good-bye as you depart.
3. Create and maintain a working environment for our staff that encourages, cheerfulness, mutual respect and teamwork.
4. Support outstanding local artisans, wineries and breweries.
5. Minimize our ecological footprint.
6. Be a strong supporter of local nonprofits and community improvement programs.

Doing Our Part

We strive to be a positive and contributing member of our community through our support of numerous church, school and social welfare agencies and programs. Additionally, we provide strong support of Access with an annual in-house fundraiser (all sales proceeds for a day).  Our support of public radio began before we opened our doors.  It is an honor to be a part of Living Opportunities by providing employment and financial support along with financial support to Britt Festivals.

In 2011 we installed an array of solar panels on our roof to utilize the abundant sunshine of the Rogue Valley to generate electricity. We have replaced and installed all new energy efficient LED light bulbs throughout our main dining area, kitchen and parking lot. In addition to lighting, we have an aggressive recycling practice and provide strong support to local nonprofits.

Local Art

One of the many things that makes Kaleidoscope so special is it’s decorative artwork.  It’s fun, it’s colorful, it’s artistic and it’s custom. When planning the restaurant, the owners wanted the interior to be different with an upbeat atmosphere that would draw people in. With a name like Kaleidoscope, that gave them endless possibilities. It all started with the mosaic mirrors which Kristi made while living in Anchorage, Alaska. Those six mirrors were the inspiration for the interior colors and the artistic feel they wanted to achieve. Through a friend, Kristi met Ka Lea who helped select and literally piece together all the interior light pendants hanging in the main dining room and bar. All the pendant lights were built at Hippo Hardware in Portland, Oregon and no two are the same. It was Ka Lea that suggested they ask her friend Cheryl Garcia (of The Great Metal Works), an up and coming art welder to help with the interior and exterior light fixtures. The metal light fixtures hanging off the end wall, the pony wall in the middle of the restaurant and the exterior light sconces were all meticulously fabricated by her.  Kristi wanted blown glass lights to round out the theme when you first enter the restaurant. That would provided the “wow” factor. She found Louis Colosimo from Red Oak Glass and commissioned five different blown light fixtures to hang above the front counter. Another friend, Bob Wade painted a “ Congratulations” painting that kicked off his numerous other art projects through the restaurant including murals, t-shirts, menu covers and smudge pot sculptures of the famous Grateful Dead band. If you look around the restaurant, you will be sure to notice the many custom artistic touches that make Kaleidoscope so unique and are a critical element to their efforts to provide a ”quality above all else”’ dining experience.