Tutta Bella Slated to Open at Crossroads Bellevue

Tutta Bella, the Seattle-based local restaurant that offers Neapolitan pizza in Seattle and Issaquah, is slated to open in the fall at Crossroads Bellevue shopping center.

It will open in the former location of the Crossroads Bar & Grill, which announced its closure last Friday and had its final day the next day.

The restaurant, which has four locations, had its eye on opening a second restaurant on the Eastside for some time, said Tutta Bella procurement manager Karen Stutesman, and the opportunity came in the 7,000 square-foot location at Crossroads Bellevue.

"We have a lot of families and large groups that come to the restaurant," she said.

She said the Bellevue location would be the largest of its locations.

Tutta Bella's four locations are in the Seattle neighborhoods of Columbia City, Wallingford and on the corner of Denny and Westlake, and one location in Issaquah. The restaurant also offers other Italian classics such as lasagna, calzones, espresso and more.

Owner Joe Fugere opened the first Tutta Bella in Columbia City in 2004 and is famous for its authentic Neapolitan pizza. The restaurants are certified authentic by the Italian Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana, which has strict standards over how a Neapolitan pizza is made, the dimensions and temperature of the wood fired oven, and the pizza's taste and texture, and ingredients.

"The flour we use, the tomatoes, the toppings. The dough must be made by hand, and the oven must be wood-fired," said Tutta Bella procurement manager Karen Stutesman. 

The result is a thinner-crust pizza that takes no more than 60 to 90 seconds to cook in its wood-fired oven.

Italian Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana has a description on how an authentic Neapolitan pizza is made and how it should taste on its website.

Crossroads Bar & Grill announced last Friday (March 1) on Facebook that its last day would be Saturday March 2:

Dear Facebook Friends,

Tomorrow at 9pm we will close our doors for good at Crossroads. We are so thankful for the years we had here and hope that we will see all of you at one of our other 4 locations soon! Please visit us tonight or tomorrow for a goodbye meal! 

Thank you!!

Crossroads Bar & Grill, which was one of five Neighborhood Grills locations in the state, also posted on that Facebook posting that anyone with a recent Groupon for that location could take it to another Neighborhood Grills location.