Rosetta the Italian Bakery is a Florida-based chain of fast-casual bakeries with approximately 15 locations along the East Coast. Four friends from Milan1 founded Rosetta in 2015. Best Buddies is a non-profit juggernaut, with a 400+ staff in 48 countries and close to $100M in revenue, founded by Anthony K. Shriver2 in 1989. Best Buddies is dedicated to ending the social, physical, and economic isolation of the 200 million people worldwide with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The two organizations partnered 50-50 in a few locations, including a shop in downtown Bethesda that opened in March 2026.
Without even tasting the food, DishingPizza applauds companies that provide job opportunities for intellectually or developmentally disabled workers. That such an establishment exists in the DMV should be a source of pride. Thankfully, however, patrons can eat well and do good without compromising.
In addition to providing workers, Best Buddies has a venture arm that offers marketing, public relations, and the glamour of a wealthy non-profit that uses celebrity ambassadors.3 The colorful, engaging Keith Haring Best Buddies logo alongside the plain Rosetta logo is a metaphor for the non-profit outshining the for-profit.
Transparency is a theme at Rosetta, with a beautifully displayed, mouth-watering selection of sumptuous pastries, sandwiches, and pizzas behind thick glass cases. The kitchen area is also behind glass, enabling customers to see how the sausage is made, so to speak. It’s a lovely space, but DishingPizza much prefers grittier environs.
DishingPizza stopped in on a weekday at lunchtime, and the bright, airy joint was hopping. The 8″ x 10″ pizza slabs are gorgeously arrayed. All one needs to do is point, which, in DishingPizza’s case, was at the Margherita.
DishingPizza would have preferred the uncut slab on a plate with a fork and knife,4 but accepts that this is an outlier opinion. The pizza was cut into four squares and served in a cardboard tray. Since Rosetta serves focaccia-based items, and it’s an Italian bakery, DishingPizza expected the crust to be focaccia-like. Surprisingly, the crust had crispy edges and soft interiors. The crust is Roman-style, Pizza al Taglio5, providing a note of authenticity from the Italian Rosetta founders. The mild sauce is lightly seasoned with oregano and accompanied by a mild, soft mozzarella. Rosetta makes a tasty pizza easily consumable by someone lacking teeth.6 The pillowy crust, however, feels too insubstantial to be a serious contender for DishingPizza‘s best pizza list.
Some Yelp reviewers yammer about Rosetta’s price point. Yeah, okay, maybe a $9 eclair or $8 tiramisu is pricy, but so is everything else these days — especially in downtown Bethesda. Furthermore, 50% of the profit goes to Best Buddies to support and expand their programs for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities — anyone who takes issue with this concept doesn’t deserve Rosetta’s bounty.
Rosetta the Italian Bakery x Best Buddies
4901-A Fairmont Ave, Bethesda, MD 20814
Additional locations in Florida, New York, New Jersey, and Georgia
Type: Roman
Pizza quality: 🍕🍕
Overall experience: ⭐⭐⭐
Pie (8″ x 10″ rectangle): $10.00
Pie price per square inch: $0.13
- The four friends: Massimiliano Bagno, Alessandro Barbera, Tommaso Bulfon, and Ambrogio Calcaterra. Them’s some hardcore Italian names. ↩︎
- Yeah, that Anthony K. Shriver, where the K stands for Kennedy — JFK’s nephew, Eunice and Sargent Shriver’s son, Maria Shriver’s brother, and Ahnold’s ex-brother-in-law. ↩︎
- Celebrity ambassadors include Tom Brady, Pierce Brosnan, Cindy Crawford, Guy Fieri, Rob Lowe, and Lauren Potter. ↩︎
- Just like George Costanza ate his Snickers bar with a knife and fork. ↩︎
- Pizza al Taglio translates to pizza by the slice. This Italian street-food staple is baked in large, rectangular pans, with a slightly thicker base (like a focaccia) but remains light, airy, and crispy. It is cut into squares with scissors or a knife, weighed, and sold by the slice. ↩︎
- Perfect for baby’s first pizza. ↩︎