Founded by Claudia Banu and Mariana Bodea approximately five years ago, Pizzeria La Rocca is a Romanian-owned pizzeria located in the Seattle metropolitan area. Acclaimed for their artisan pizzas and award-winning wines, the pizzeria transcends cultural boundaries, blending classic Italian cooking with rich Romanian heritage.
Pizza, in more ways than one, is like an original piece of artwork. They both take time to create, patience to perfect, and dedication to grow. But most importantly, much like a painting evokes emotion through color and design, a pizza can seamlessly translate the essence of taste into meaningful love and community. At Pizzeria La Rocca, a pizza is crafted the same way: like a work of art that brings people together. Around five years ago, passionate owners Mariana Bodea and Claudia Banu started Pizzeria La Rocca with a clear mission: to seamlessly blend their traditional Romanian hospitality and share their love for cooking and baking. “We are really proud that we were able to create a business and that people get to come to try our food and feel connected”, Mariana Bodea proudly shared. Combining Italian cooking with years of Romanian background, Pizzeria La Rocca offers a wide variety of handmade rustic pizzas, mouthwatering pastas, acclaimed wines, and much more.
To Bodea and Banu, Pizzeria La Rocca is more than just a pizzeria; it is a place where “forming relationships and [maintaining] connections” with customers and each other becomes the “biggest thing.” At the pizzeria, everyone is treated like family, where community and teamwork form a welcoming environment: “We are all like family: we laugh a lot, there is a good vibe in the kitchen, and in the restaurant as well”, Bodea suggested fondly.
Q: What inspired you to become the owner of Pizzeria La Rocca?
Bodea reflected on the time when the pizzeria was just a dream: “I was delighted to start something like the pizzeria,” she stated, “We always wanted to have a restaurant.”
Inspired by family and friends who owned restaurants in Romania, Bodea and Banu decided to open the Italian pizzeria in the Seattle Metropolitan area, where they could share their love for cooking and culture with loved ones and customers.
To Bodea, food’s ability to bring people together is one of the many things she loves most about what she does.
“I like that we have customers that come regularly and we know them and their kids on a personal level; we always learn more about who they are and what they enjoy doing. We greet them, and we share a lot between us.”
Those who enter Pizzeria La Rocca are never strangers, but friends, welcomed by the genuine hospitality of the owners and hardworking staff.
“We have the courage to say anything, and we always laugh a lot between all of us”, Bodea shared. At the pizzeria, laughter and conversations are shared daily, brought together by the spirit of teamwork and warm hospitality. Pizzeria La Rocca is not an ordinary pizzeria located on the corner of a street- it is a hidden gem that magically fosters a sense of family and cultural bonding over authentic Italian food.
Q: What were some of the challenges you faced in the beginning?
“The COVID-19 pandemic”, Bodea recalled with gravity. “It was hard during the first few weeks, primarily due to the outbreak.”
When Bodea reflected on the pizzeria’s greatest difficulties during the pandemic, lack of ingredients and staffing shortages were the biggest concerns: “Our flour was imported from Italy and [the pizzeria] had insufficient access. We also struggled to find people to staff on most days.” Overcoming the obstacles the pandemic threw in the pizzeria’s path, Pizzeria La Rocca has achieved phenomenal recognition since it was founded during the global COVID-19 outbreak. Given the pizzeria’s several milestones of success, such as winning gold recognition for Best Pizza and Best Italian Restaurant, as well as the People’s Choice Award in the Pacific Northwest by The Seattle Times, Bodea attributed some of this success to hard work and hospitality–two characteristics that she believes are shared among the Romanian people.
“I think that the most important thing about running our business is hospitality,” Bodea remarked. “I would say that we are very hospitable, very keen to welcome people, and I think this definitely comes from our Romanian background.”
Without hospitality and strong customer connections, Bodea believes that the pizzeria “wouldn’t have such a nice atmosphere, and it would be something that shows in the food.” The food Pizzeria La Rocca offers, after all, is what truly breaks cultural barriers.
“I am very involved with everything regarding Pizzeria La Rocca,” explained Bodea enthusiastically with a smile. With dreams to expand the pizzeria and continue sharing warm laughs and friendly relationships across the Pacific Northwest, Bodea and Banu emphasize the importance of teamwork, organization, and accountability as the core pillars of their work ethic: “Teamwork and accountability are very important, [but] organization is the biggest thing.”
Similar to how soil, water, and sun are essential components for a flower to grow, Bodea described each of the qualities as necessary to achieve success and lead a restaurant effectively.
“I think that being very organized in a business, especially as a restaurant, is very important,” the business owner shared. “You need to have control from the start and make sure that you are organized for the department that comes every six months to inspect the produce and quality of the restaurant.”
According to Bodea, successfully running a business requires much more than strategic planning and tidiness alone; it also needs building trust within the community of customers and staff, which is a priority of building an atmosphere like that of Pizzeria La Rocca’s.
“You need accountability; make sure that your products and appliances come in on time, and that you can come up with solutions as they arise.”
There are lots of tasks and responsibilities that come with being an entrepreneur. As a dedicated business owner, Bodea rarely gets to spend her time out of the kitchen: “I can get extremely busy.”
When not busy working at the pizzeria and scaling the business, Bodea enjoys spending most of her time with her family or pursuing outdoor hobbies.
Q: What do you enjoy doing outside of being a business owner of Pizzeria La Rocca?
Bodea stated fondly, “Hiking is one of my favorites. I really enjoy going outside and being with my family.”
She typically finds herself spending time with her two sons or cooking, something she says“inspired me to start Pizzeria La Rocca.”
Bodea also reflected on her family’s shared love of going to different restaurants and trying new things whenever they can.
Bodea remarked, “We frequently go to restaurants around the area and try new things”, commenting that their favorite thing is getting to “connect with new people and explore different areas.”
When asked what advice Bodea would share with the younger generation of aspiring entrepreneurs, Bodea’s words were expressed with confidence: “It’s a lot of work, but definitely worth it.” Reflecting on the differences of having a job versus being a business owner, Bodea shared that when showing up for a regular job, “it can be easy to just stick to work hours”, but that “when you are showing up for yourself, these hours vary greatly because you need to ensure that everything is going perfectly. And because you want everything to go perfectly, you end up loving the process as well.”
Mariana Bodea and Claudia Banu founded Pizzeria La Rocca with a shared mission to blend traditional Italian cooking with the Romanian hospitality they grew up with. Now, the pizzeria is a place where individuals can indulge in authentic cuisine, build lasting relationships, and create precious memories that last a lifetime.
About the Series
Romanian Entrepreneurs of the Pacific Northwest is an ARCS Journal series featuring Romanian-owned businesses in the Pacific Northwest. Through meaningful conversations with local entrepreneurs and business leaders, the series explores the unique stories behind their companies, the challenges they’ve overcome, and the experiences that have shaped their success.
About the Authors
Ariana and Catarina Pirvu are students attending Woodinville High School with a strong passion for business and their Romanian culture. The two created this series in hopes of learning from and sharing the special experiences of local Romanian entrepreneurs with the Romanian community.
