Tutta Bella at Crossroads Bellevue to Open in October

Tutta Bella at Crossroads Bellevue shopping center is slated to open in October, according to Crossroads Bellevue.

Tutta Bella is a Seattle-based local restaurant that offers Neapolitan pizza in Seattle and Issaquah.

It will open in the former location of the Crossroads Bar & Grill.

The restaurant, which has four locations, had its eye on opening a second restaurant on the Eastside for some time, Tutta Bella procurement manager Karen Stutesman told Bellevue Patch in March, shortly after the signs went up at Crossroads Bellevue.

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

Tyler Kopkas will serve as General Manager and Mariano Valdovino will head up the culinary staff as Kitchen Manager, according to a press release Wednesday from Crossroads Bellevue shopping center.

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.