Washington’s first Black-owned pizzeria made The Infatuation’s list of Seattle’s best new restaurants this month, and if you take a look at the menu, you’ll understand why: It’s wildly eclectic, artisanal and globally inspired. Think Roman-style with an exotic whiff of Somali and Ethiopian spices.
Pizza by Ruffin opened in October 2024, plating Roman-style pies with mostly Halal meat as well as vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free options.
Owners Isaiah Ruffin and Colleen Constant first started firing up pies in a school bus in Colorado before moving to Seattle. “When we went to Italy, we enjoyed a variety of Roman-style pizza and thought that we could bring that excitement to Seattle,” Constant told Seattle Refined recently.
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A regular top-seller on the Pizza by Ruffin menu: The Doro, made with Doro Wat—a spicy and fragrant Ethiopian chicken stew—and cilantro. Other recent pies include the Tomato Pie (sun-dried tomato pesto, herbed ricotta and rosemary); the Gumbo (shrimp, chicken andouille sausage, bell peppers, onions and celery); and the Lamb with Spicy Somali Stew.
Another point of distinction: Pizza by Ruffin doesn’t accept tips. As Constant explained to Seattle Refined, she and her husband “both independently disliked the tipping system prior to meeting each other. And then I met Isaiah, and he shared his knowledge from grad school research to me. The question asked is, ‘Why does it fall on the customer to make sure the server is getting paid? Should it not be the responsibility of the employer to make sure their staff is being paid a livable wage?’ Tipping is built on a racist and sexist system that often causes tension in the workplace, and we quickly decided that we would not allow tipping to be in our business model. We both have worked in the service industry and shared horror stories about tipping. It was an easy ‘no’ for us both.”
Pizza by Ruffin kicked off Black History Month in February by collaborating with Seattle’s first black-owned brewery, Metier Brewing. Ruffin, the eatery’s pizzaiolo, offered pies like the Trio di Pizzette (collard greens, Doro Wat, and sos pwa nwa—a black bean puree); the Wood Fired Pizza (short ribs, potatoes and onions); and the Pizza Al Taglio (xawaash spice pumpkin and apples).
Here’s more from The Infatuation’s article on Pizza by Ruffin:
“You’ll see the usual tomato-splashed suspects done well—like a basil-brightened Margherita or a classic cheese pie polka-dotted with crackly halal pepperoni. But Pizza By Ruffin doesn’t stop at the basics. Punchy green Jamaican curry catapults an otherwise monotonous mushroom slice to another lunar plane, squash is paired with brie, and they’re even loading pies with gumbo ingredients…In a neighborhood bereft of solid pie options, this counts as progress.”
Constant told Seattle Refined that the pizzeria is all about family. “We’re the only two people you’ll ever see [working] at our restaurant, a truly family-owned and operated experience….It’s been a magical experience to build this business together.”
