Tear into Neapolitan pizza and amaro-centric cocktails at new Tacoma bar

You are greeted by a beautiful specimen: a black-and-white tiled Mugnaini oven, imported from Italy, powered by burning applewood. Ideally you simultaneously catch a glimpse of a Neapolitan pie emerging from the wood-fired dome because it’s all about the pizza at Bar Rosa, which quietly opened Nov. 10 in Hilltop.

It’s also about the cocktails, the atmosphere, the hospitality and the experience — one that immediately feels distinct in Tacoma.

“We are a bar,” emphasized Meghan Seale, co-owner with Bracey Rogers, “but we do pizza.”

On a recent visit, it was evident that they take both responsibilities seriously but not achingly so, exuding a carefree confidence that is both hard to come by and even harder to achieve in hospitality. “Wear black, eat pizza!!!” proclaims a decal across four corner windows, above which are two vintage Coca-Cola signs now also sporting “Bar Rosa” in sans-serif lettering.

The leopard-spotted pies are as close to a true Neapolitan as you’ll find in Tacoma and the South Sound, the dough made exclusively from Caputo “00” flour, cold-fermented for two days and blazed for all of 90 seconds or so in the nearly 800-degree oven. As the restaurant’s only cooking surface — there is no stovetop, no deep-fryer — the tight menu centers on the star, with five choices to start.

Necessary is the margherita, here hit with a sprinkle of parmesan. In addition to the Roni, the Salumi upgrades to soppressata, accompanied by slices of red onion, oregano and dried chili. Non-tomato pies (which can be spun vegan, sans cheese but sauced with tomato and a garlic-caper oil) include the Shroom with salsa verde, ricotta and delightfully bitter dandelion greens, as well as the Spicy Green with broccolini, garlic, capers and pecorino.

Appetizers of roasted nuts and carrots with cumin, lemon and ricotta also benefit from the wood fire, complemented by a salad of arugula and finely shaved fennel, apples and red onion. They anticipate having a weekly pizza and salad special — last week was a Brussels salad, the bulbs thinly shaved, piled high and topped with bacon — and adding meatballs, wood-fired of course.

Led by Gloria Wu, the kitchen staff of three includes Brandon Barrios and James Padilla, two former E9 Pizza Works oven masters. The team has considered pursuing Verace Napoletana certification, bestowed (for a fee) upon pizzerias worldwide that adhere to strict ingredient standards and processes. There are 10 such certified restaurants in Washington state, all in the Seattle area, including Cornuto, Pizzeria 22 and Via Tribunali.

A lifelong hospitality pro (both her parents and grandparents owned restaurants), Seale moved to Tacoma four years ago following several in Montana then Seattle, where she worked at Ocho in Ballard and Canon in Capitol Hill, the latter an esteemed cocktail bar.

At Bar Rosa, her drinks, developed in collaboration with the tight-knit staff, center on Italian amaros and pizza-friendly flavors, from a riff on fernet and Coke to a Fancy G&T and at least one cocktail on draft, plus beer and wine. In the Marrone Spritz, CioCiaro, a gentian bitter with notes of licorice, cola and spices, meets the inimitable Cynar and a splash of prosecco over ice. In the Sweaty Red, Rinomato Aperitivo — similar to but softer than Campari — joins limoncello and seltzer.

“I felt like Tacoma was like a wide-open market where you could kinda do whatever you wanted,” said Seale.

She met Rogers through a mutual friend, and they were “both chirping about opening a bar,” he said.

When the landlord opted not to renew his lease a few months ago, Rogers closed his most recent Seattle venture, Bar Sue, known since 2013 for its chill vibe, great cocktails and Southern-inspired fare.

They landed the one-story Hilltop space in late 2019, teasing the logo and location on Instagram around the New Year. When the pandemic took over, they paused. In late 2020, they began tackling major repairs — wiring, replacing the roof, installing an outdoor awning — and in January knocked down the wall between the former tenants, Thai Garden and a Tacoma Medical Center pharmacy. The red Boscoe’s sign, remnant of a chicken and waffle concept that never happened, also came down.

By summer the transformation was nearly complete, noticeably on the exterior, its slim brick painted jet-black. The interior evokes a similar mood, dimly lit with schoolhouse pendants and wood accents, including original beams framing the bar and lining the ceiling — sanded and refinished by Rogers, who, with the support of Seale and her husband Michael, handled most of the buildout. Jason Sachs joins the front-of-house.

Open late, Bar Rosa already feels right at home in Hilltop, in the light of Tacoma’s No. 1 Fried Rice, up the block from Peterson Bros. 1111, around the corner from Zodiac Supper Club and 1022 South J. Nearby on Sixth Avenue, Field Bar also opened this fall with a thoughtful food program. As Seale noted, Tacoma is ripe for the culinary evolution that has, in this writer’s humble opinion, only gained steam during the pandemic chaos.

BAR ROSA TACOMA

▪ 1202 S. 11th St., Tacoma, no phone yet, instagram.com/barrosatacoma

▪ Wednesday-Sunday 5-11 p.m. (midnight Friday-Saturday)

▪ Details: Neapolitan-style pizza with pizza-friendly wine, beer and cocktails in laidback setting; earlier opening hours and lunch to come

This story was originally published November 26, 2021 at 5:00 AM.