Rosso Pizzeria in Santa Rosa to reopen under new ownership
MELANIE NGUYEN
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
07/16/2025
After suddenly closing earlier this year, the popular Rosso Pizzeria and Wine Bar in Santa Rosa is slated to reopen with new owners later this summer.
Customers discovered the restaurant’s return through a social media post that read “We’re crafting something extraordinary. Our artisanal pizza and wine bar experience will be worth the wait.”
Rosso will be run by husband-and-wife John and Linda Ahmadi.
The couple were regulars before the pizza shop closed in March. “We’ve celebrated family birthdays there and have been there dining and the pizza there was our favorite,” Linda Ahmadi said.
They previously owned Sandy’s Take and Bake from February 2006 to January 2023, Ahmadi said. The couple had been looking to get back into the food business and when they heard about the closing, they seized upon the opportunity.
Ahmadi said they decided to keep the same name and will still serve the same Neapolitan style wood fired pizza, but with a few menu updates they are still working on.
“It will be a similar style food with a lot of classic Rosso favorites coming back and some new creation. And we’re looking forward to opening it back up and we can’t wait to see people down there,” Ahmadi said.
When asked who the chef will be, Ahmadi saidthey are not ready yet to share that information.
The pizzeria was originally opened by John Franchetti and Kevin Cronin who decided to go their separate ways in 2015.
Franchetti went on to open his own restaurant with his wife called Franchettis’ Gasthaus at Santa Rosa’s Promise Center. The restaurant closed in December and was replaced by a coffee shop owned by the church called Central Coffee.
Cronin stayed on with Rosso, but cited high operating costs as the reason for its closing.
The Press Democrat contacted Cronin about Rosso’s next chapter and he confirmed he knew the pizzeria was reopening under new ownership, but did not comment further.
Ahmadi said Rosso’s is tentatively scheduled to begin serving customers in late August, while they await an alcohol license approval and health inspections.
“We’ve got a lot cooking and we’re exited to share more soon,” Ahmadi said.