Founded in 2022 by James "Jimmy Twill" Terwilliger, Pizza Cassette began as a food vendor at The Gärten, a European-style outdoor dining and drinking destination shared with Deft Brewing, Lost Cause Meadery, and Oddish Wine. As the sole food operation at the venue, Pizza Cassette became known for its New York–meets–Italian approach to pizza. The success of that model quickly turned the operation into a proof of concept for a larger standalone restaurant.
The move to Pacific Beach represents a significant step forward - and a calculated risk. Garnet Avenue has quietly become one of San Diego’s most concentrated pizza districts, home to heavyweight operators and diverse styles. Pizza Cassette will be joining an already jam-packed stretch that includes New York City import Prince Street Pizza, known nationally for its square slices, along with local mainstays such as Sandbox Pizza, Scuderie Italia, and a rotating cast of neighborhood slice shops and sit-down Italian restaurants. The corridor has become a proving ground where concepts must stand out on execution, consistency, and identity to survive.
Unlike its Bay Park operation, which relies on a wood-fired oven in an outdoor setting, the Pacific Beach location will utilize an electric pizza oven, a shift driven by local permitting constraints around open flames. The change is expected to allow for higher volume and tighter control while maintaining the texture and structure that define Pizza Cassette’s pies.
The new space - which formerly housed the short-lived Rizers Pizza and Hoboken Pizza for more than two decades before that - is anticipated to seat approximately 60 to 80 guests indoors, with potential expansion through a rear patio area. Service will follow a counter-order format with food delivered to tables, striking a middle ground between casual slice shops and more formal full-service restaurants. The approach mirrors Pizza Cassette’s philosophy of offering elevated, scratch-made food without abandoning accessibility.
Pizza Cassette’s menu centers on a Neapolitan-inspired dough made with a blend of Italian flours and a shorter fermentation time, producing a crust that balances airiness, chew, and crispness. The operation is notable for making nearly everything in-house, including sausages, meatballs, and cured or roasted proteins, reinforcing Terwilliger’s commitment to hands-on preparation and fine-dining discipline even within a high-demand pizza format.
The Pacific Beach expansion builds on the momentum Pizza Cassette established at The Gärten, where it helped define the venue’s identity as a destination for thoughtfully made food paired with craft beverages. That Bay Park location served as both a testing ground and a launchpad, demonstrating that Terwilliger’s approach could thrive beyond pop-ups and limited-service formats.
Pizza Cassette is expected to open in early 2026 at 1459 Garnet Avenue in San Diego's Pacific Beach.
Originally published on December 15, 2025. Information originally reported by Beth Demmon of San Diego Magazine.
