Tutta Bella, the brand that introduced VPN-certified Neapolitan-style pizza to the Pacific Northwest, has begun cutting back its brick-and-mortar restaurant presence in the Seattle area. But it appears to be part of a strategic move further into the retail pizza business.
According to a recent announcement on social media, Tutta Bella will shutter its flagship location in Columbia City, Washington—where the chain first started 22 years ago—as well as its downtown Seattle store, which opened less than two years ago. Both venues will close on October 2.
Tutta Bella has also closed its two kiosk restaurants inside QFC stores in University Village and Kirkland Urban.
Brick-and-mortar locations in Wallingford, Bellevue and Issaquah will remain open, according to media reports.
In its announcement about the closures, Tutta Bella offered no explanation beyond one simple statement: “We considered many options before deciding it was time to say goodbye to them.”
PMQ has reached out to Tutta Bella founder Joe Fugere and CEO Cate Hardy for comment but hasn’t gotten a response yet. This story may be updated in the near future.
The Puget Sound Business Journal, meanwhile, has reported that Tutta Bella closed the four locations to focus on its wholesale pizza production. Tutta Bella opened a 15,000-square-foot plant in Seattle to produce and distribute its CPG products, then expanded its staff in 2024.
A little over a year ago, Hardy stepped in as Tutta Bella’s new CEO after stints at Starbucks, PCC Community Markets and The Wine Group. At that time, Tutta Bella was increasing its focus on becoming a consumer packaged goods (CPG) brand and had its ready-to-heat pizzas in more than 1,000 Kroger stores and Costco warehouses nationwide.
It’s unclear whether Tutta Bella is still supplying pizzas to Kroger on such a large scale, however.
Tutta Bella has specifically bypassed the already crowded frozen pizza aisle by focusing on high-value deli case placement. Its stone-fired, ready-to-heat pizzas are sold in the refrigerated, fresh deli section of grocery stores, capitalizing on a consumer shift toward premium, chef-inspired meals that are convenient but feel fresh instead of highly processed.
