Uploaded May 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
Isaiah Ruffin and Colleen Constant began their pizza business journey in a renovated school bus in Colorado, always envisioning a brick-and-mortar restaurant. After evaluating that Fort Collins, Colorado, wasn’t where they would open a brick and mortar, the couple began traveling to cities, researching areas in Chicago, Washington, D.C., Austin and others. Seattle stood out and after several visits, they took the leap. Within six months of moving to Seattle and doing popups, they found their first brick-and-mortar spot, Pizza by Ruffin “Savor the Authentic Taste of the Black Diaspora via Pizza al Taglio.” They pride themselves on being black-owned, women-owned and veteran-owned. Pizza by Ruffin opened in the Fairview Market Hall within South Lake Union. The two established the restaurant by identifying the work/life balance they wanted and built the business around their vision. Isaiah shares what they created with their pizzeria.
We also talk:
Foot traffic
The current business environment
Going with Roman style
Sourcing ingredients locally
Culinary focused on exploration
The skill, art and science of dough making
Transition from hand mixing dough to using a mixer
Summer menu additions like sandwiches
Learn more about Pizza by Isaiah at pizzabyruffin.com and on Instagram instagram.com/pizzabyruffin
Isaiah Ruffin and Colleen Constant began their pizza business journey in a renovated school bus in Colorado, always envisioning a brick-and-mortar restaurant. After evaluating that Fort Collins, Colorado, wasn’t where they would open a brick and mortar, the couple began traveling to cities, researching areas in Chicago, Washington, D.C., Austin and others. Seattle stood out and after several visits, they took the leap. Within six months of moving to Seattle and doing popups, they found their first brick-and-mortar spot, Pizza by Ruffin “Savor the Authentic Taste of the Black Diaspora via Pizza al Taglio.” They pride themselves on being black-owned, women-owned and veteran-owned. Pizza by Ruffin opened in the Fairview Market Hall within South Lake Union. The two established the restaurant by identifying the work/life balance they wanted and built the business around their vision. Isaiah shares what they created with their pizzeria.
We also talk:
Foot traffic
The current business environment
Going with Roman style
Sourcing ingredients locally
Culinary focused on exploration
The skill, art and science of dough making
Transition from hand mixing dough to using a mixer
Summer menu additions like sandwiches
Learn more about Pizza by Isaiah at pizzabyruffin.com and on Instagram instagram.com/pizzabyruffin
