As the Lake Oswego Review reported last fall, Adam Fiejdasz said, "There's nothing for kids or people to do around here," standing in the space he'd just built into Oregon's first public racing and flight simulator lounge. He lives three minutes up the hill from it. He wasn't describing all of West Linn. He was describing one stretch of Highway 43, the part locals call Willamette Drive, where a shuttered burger joint had sat empty since the previous September.
Fiejdasz's answer was Kartcade. Ten months later, on September 17, 2026, Fast Times Pizza opened next door. A slice-and-soft-serve spinoff from one of the founders of Portland's Sizzle Pie, it took the adjacent suite. Together, they give the address two distinct draws.
Two Doors, One Address
The address is 18750 Willamette Drive. Kartcade occupies Suite B1. Fast Times took Suite A, the space that Backyard Burgers Company left behind when it closed in September 2025. For a full year, that suite sat dark while the one next to it filled with racing rigs and flight simulators. Now both doors are open, and the block that had one vacant storefront a year ago has two active businesses that didn't exist in West Linn before either of them signed a lease.
That's a small footprint for a story, one address, two suites, but the coincidence of timing is the actual news here. These aren't chain locations following a market study. They're two independently owned concepts, run by people who don't appear to have coordinated with each other, that landed in the same building within a year and identified the same gap in the neighborhood around them.
The Slice Shop With a Metal-Show Pedigree
Fast Times comes from Matt Jacobson, who co-founded Sizzle Pie with Mikey McKennedy in 2011. Sizzle Pie built its identity on heavy metal, late nights, and a slogan, "Death to False Pizza," that ended up on t-shirts as often as menus. Jacobson's new concept is a more playful, late-night-leaning offshoot, first opened in Sizzle Pie's original East Burnside space in Portland before landing here on Willamette Drive as its second location.
The West Linn menu leans into the same throwback instincts. Pies carry names like Power Up, The Spicoli, Blade Runner, Synth Wave, and Goonies Never Say Die, alongside meat, vegetarian and vegan options, salads and desserts. Inside, there's a full bar, a classic RC soda machine, and pinball machines. It's the kind of spot built for a slice after a movie or a beer during a game, not a sit-down dinner reservation.
Ten Simulators and an Owner Who Lives Up the Hill
Kartcade opened first, in the fall of 2025, and it remains the only public racing and flight simulator lounge in Oregon. The lineup runs from smaller kart setups built for younger drivers up to full-motion, triple-screen rigs used by people who train on the same simulators professional racers use. A flight simulator rounds out the offering, running everything from Microsoft Flight Simulator to Star Wars: Squadrons.
Pricing runs in tiers by equipment and age:
- Ages 5 and up, dedicated racing karts: $30 per hour
- Ages 10 and up, direct-drive professional rigs: $40 per hour
- Ages 14 and up, full-motion triple-screen setup: $50 per hour
Fiejdasz described the range as sitting between arcade and simulation, what he called "sim-cade." Groups race together rather than taking turns, up to ten drivers at once, which makes it a workable stop for a birthday party or a Friday night with friends without anyone standing around waiting.
Two Businesses on the Same Corner
What ties these two businesses together isn't theme or ownership. It's their location: adjacent suites on Willamette Drive. Kartcade offers racing and flight simulators; Fast Times serves pizza. Together, they give residents another option for an evening out.
It's worth being clear about which stretch of road this is. This isn't the Historic Willamette business district a few blocks off Willamette Falls Drive, the walkable strip of Main Street shops and restaurants that's been rebuilding its own identity in recent seasons. This is the highway-facing side of West Linn, the part built for drive-up convenience rather than sidewalk browsing, where the former Backyard Burgers space now houses Fast Times Pizza.
That distinction matters for anyone trying to picture the geography. Historic Willamette is where you'd walk from shop to shop on a Saturday afternoon. This corner of Willamette Drive is where you'd pull in on a Tuesday night because your kid wants to try the racing simulator and you're both hungry afterward. Both are part of the same city, but they're solving different problems.
What's Open Right Now
For a resident deciding where to spend an evening, the practical facts are straightforward. Kartcade runs afternoon and weekend hours, with staff on hand to help first-timers get set up on whichever rig fits their age and comfort level. Fast Times, going by its Portland flagship's format, leans toward lunch-through-late-night service, with slices meant to be grabbed quickly rather than ordered off a sit-down menu. Walk-ins work for both. Neither requires a membership or a reservation to show up and see what the fuss is about.
A year ago, this particular block on Highway 43 had one empty storefront and a for-lease sign. Now it has a simulator lounge with ten rigs and a pizza counter with pinball machines, both reachable from the same parking lot.
If you're weighing what a corner like this means for the block or the block behind it, Lisa Hanna Properties keeps a close eye on how West Linn changes, one storefront at a time. Schedule a free consultation to talk through what's shifting in the neighborhood around you.
