Local pizza chain closes restaurants, including in Tacoma and Puyallup
A local pizza chain has closed most of its locations for good.
The Rock Wood Fired Pizza — which has locations in Tacoma, Puyallup, Lake Tapps and several places in King County — is shutting down all of its restaurants except for two, with only one left in Washington state.
The two locations that will remain open are the Lake Tapps restaurant at 1408 Lake Tapps Parkway SE and the one in Denver, Colorado.
“It’s just the economy, to be honest with you,” co-founder Don Bellis told The News Tribune Wednesday. “With the rising minimum wages, the rising commodity costs, increases in rent, it’s very difficult to survive in business.”
Bellis said the Puyallup location at 4301 South Meridian closed Tuesday night, and the other locations — including the Tacoma location at 1920 Jefferson Ave. — will close at the end of the day on Wednesday. The other locations that are closing are in Covington, Federal Way, Lacey, and Renton.
When The News Tribune asked Bellis why they decided to keep the Lake Tapps and Denver locations open, he said those locations “are separately owned by other individuals and they’re doing very well.”
“We started this 30 years ago. My wife and I moved from the East Coast to create the wood-fired pizza concept up here in Washington,” Bellis said. “I think we became part of the community, where people have their first dates, or met their spouses, or celebrated turning 21 with their first bucket [drink]. We had fantastic pizzas and great foods. That’s what really made The Rock great.”
The News Tribune archives contributed to this story.
This story was originally published October 22, 2025 at 1:45 PM.
