Rocky Bria, owner of Rocky’s Pizza & the “R” Bar, gathered with family and staff for a farewell party Aug. 29. Together, they blew out the candles on a cake, marking the end of nearly 50 years of memories at the longtime Battle Ground landmark.
“After I blew the candles, it hit really hard because then it kind of set in that it’s really happening, you know,” Bria said.
Bria, 82, decided to close the business because of his age and the demands of running the restaurant. Problems with the building also factored into his decision, since proper repairs required the business to temporarily close. Although repairs were completed, Bria and his family chose not to reopen.
“It was a hard, hard decision. But age is a factor that helped me make this decision. It's just too much for me right now,” Bria said. “And I just have one daughter, you know. So I just don't have anybody to run it.”
Bria hopes the property will continue serving the community, even if a new owner changes its name or cuisine or chooses a different use for the building.
“Not for my sake, or the name, or anything else like that. But just for the community. It’s such a location that people remember; there’s a lot of memories in here,” he said.
The road to Rocky’s Pizza
Bria’s path to opening Rocky’s Pizza began long before he settled in Battle Ground. The son of Italian immigrants, he was 13 when his family moved from Italy to Connecticut in 1958. After being drafted during the Vietnam War, he served a year in Vietnam before being stationed at Fort Lewis, now part of Joint Base Lewis-McChord, south of Tacoma. He met his future wife while stationed there and was later discharged.
Bria then worked as a truck driver, including making deliveries for Standard Oil. He and his wife later spent a short time in Connecticut but returned to Washington because she missed the state. They settled in Clark County, where he continued driving trucks until 1976, when he came home with news for his wife.
“I told her, ‘I just quit my job, and I’m going to go into business. I’m going to start a restaurant,’ and she freaked out,” Bria said.
Bria had long wanted to work for himself and enjoyed cooking. He believed a pizza restaurant would be a good fit for both his ambitions and the Battle Ground community.
“I always wanted to be self-employed. I didn’t want to work for anybody else. And I’ve always been pretty good at cooking. You know, even now, I love to cook and can come up with some pretty good meals,” he said.
Bria opened his first Rocky’s Pizza in 1977 in the Battle Ground shopping center at 715 W. Main St.
“From the very beginning, we did really well. We gave people good value for their money,” Bria said. “They used to line up out the door.”
In 1980, Bria moved the business into the log building at 1901 W. Main St., which became home to Rocky’s Pizza & the “R” Bar. The building had sat vacant for a couple of years after the bank repossessed it, but Bria believed its location could work for his restaurant.
“We were doing really well, and we really liked this building. It had been sitting empty for a couple of years, and the bank had repossessed it,” Bria said. “We know that if we did just as well as we did over in the shopping center, we could make it work.”
Designed by a German architect and built from local timber, the log building had a distinctive style. Bria said the green timber had not aged well, and several key structural supports needed to be replaced before the restaurant could safely open.
“We had to spend some money on it, but it paid off. It was a great location for us,” Bria said.
Inside, cozy booths and larger dining areas made room for families and groups. The restaurant’s large menu and salad bar made it a destination for social gatherings. The open kitchen also let children watch pizzas being made from scratch.
“That way there was no doubt that we made everything from scratch,” Bria said.
Bria credited the restaurant’s success to its longtime employees. Fred Lane managed the business for about 35 years, while kitchen manager Maya Pranger worked there for about 32 years. Bria said he and Lane grew close over the years.
“Fred, the guy that ran it for me for all those years. We became like brothers, and I trusted him fully. He was very devoted, just like it was his own place. You know, what more could you ask of somebody?” Bria said.
A place full of community memories
Inside the now-closed restaurant, photographs of local sports teams from decades past still line the halls, preserving memories of the generations of young athletes who gathered at Rocky’s with their teammates and families.
“I grew up coming here all the time, but it's just so funny. I don't think that there was a sports party of any sort that [Rocky’s] did not host us. So if you played sports in Battle Ground or North Clark County, you came here to do your end-of-year events,” managing broker Lindsey Maze said as she recounted her childhood visits to the restaurant.
Bria hopes former players will return as adults with their own children and show them where their teams once gathered.
“It's my hope that somebody will step up to the plate and keep it going, so that kids that are now adults can come back and say: ‘This is where my picture's hanging, over there. And that's where I used to have Little League teams, and this is my team.’ You know, you just can't throw things like that away.”
The property at 1901 W. Main St. is listed for $2,999,999 as of press time. The approximately 7,600-square-foot building sits on 0.97 acres and includes a drive-through and 50 parking stalls. Property records indicate it was built in 1972.
For more information about the property or updates on its listing status, visit the property listing at shorturl.at/Pyj3O or contact Maze at 360-798-2786.
