Tutta Bella, the Neapolitan-style pizza chain that first fired up its ovens in Seattle in 2004, announced it is closing its downtown Seattle and Columbia City pizzerias. The company broke the news over social media, ending a run at its original Columbia City location and its downtown branch, the fifth eatery added in fall 2024.
The Seattle Times also reported the closures.
A Farewell To Columbia City And Downtown
Company founder Joe Fugere opened his first pizzeria in Columbia City in 2004, and Tutta Bella management said Columbia City has been part of the company's story since 2004. The report also relays that Tutta Bella management described its South Lake Union and downtown Seattle branch as a beloved and convivial gathering spot for the community.
Tutta Bella's Grocery Products
By 2021, Tutta Bella had two QFC grocerants, and its ready-to-eat products were sold at more than 200 local retail locations.
Tutta Bella had been experimenting with vacuum-sealed pizza since 2019 and refined the process during the pandemic; it also makes sauces, ItaloAmericano reported. That pivot toward packaged and grocery products traces back to the pandemic era, when the company built out a national pizza-distribution business after expanding takeout and hunting for new revenue streams, according to ItaloAmericano. That account describes Tutta Bella shipping take-and-bake pizzas to roughly 900 Kroger stores across 28 states, with plans at the time to expand to 1,200 Kroger stores in 40 states by fall — a first Kroger order alone was reportedly for 85,000 pizzas in a single week, worth more than $1 million.
A Company Built On Certification And Volume
Tutta Bella’s Columbia City pizzeria was the first in the Northwest to obtain Verace Pizza Napoletana certification. Its Culinary Innovation Hub, a 15,000-square-foot facility south of downtown Seattle that opened in 2023, employs about 175 workers across two shifts producing roughly 10,000 pizzas a day, per ItaloAmericano.
The closures, set to take effect Oct. 2, 2026, will leave downtown and Columbia City diners looking elsewhere for their slice of the chain's two-decade history.
