Prime Pizza is planning to open a new location at 7151 Warner Ave., Suite 105, in Huntington Beach, bringing the Los Angeles-based pizzeria's New York-style pies to a stretch of Orange County that's already seen the chain expand fast. The suite is listed under the pizzeria's name in Orange County health records, according to per health records.
From Fairfax Avenue to the OC Suburbs
As reported by WhatNow, Prime Pizza already operates restaurants in Brea and Mission Viejo, meaning the Huntington Beach shop would mark its fourth stop in the region. The chain's website lists additional Southern California locations as coming soon, though no opening date has been specified. Prime Pizza was founded in October 2014 on Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles by Zak Fishman and James Starr, who set out to bring authentic East Coast slice culture to Southern California, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The Warner Avenue suite previously housed Local Kitchens, a Bay Area micro-food-hall concept that made its Southern California debut at the site in October 2022 before closing its Huntington Beach unit, the report notes. That closure left the second-generation restaurant space open in the Goldenwest & Warner shopping center, a 129,591-square-foot open-air retail plaza anchored by Stater Bros., CVS, and Ross, per LoopNet. The intersection sees roughly 71,000 average daily vehicles and sits directly across from Ocean View High School.
Dough Built on Brooklyn Know-How
Prime Pizza specializes in New York-style pizza made for California, with a menu built around round and square pies. To develop its original crust, the chain consulted Brooklyn pizzaiolo Frank Pinello, founder of Best Pizza and host of Vice's The Pizza Show, who helped Fishman formulate a traditional New York-style dough recipe, according to the Los Angeles Times. The pies are made fresh daily with King Arthur flour, Grande cheese, Stanislaus tomatoes, and Central California Corto olive oil, per PMQ Pizza.
Beyond pizza, select locations offer vodka and bolognese pastas, chicken and meatball parmesan subs, garlic knots, salads, meatballs and wings. The menu also includes rotating specialty collaborations, a hallmark of the brand's approach to staying culturally relevant in each new market it enters.
Collaborations That Stick to the Menu
Prime Pizza has partnered with a range of local names including Badmaash, Jitlada, Ggiata, and Tacos Y Birria La Unica, folding regional flavor into limited-run pies. One earlier collaboration with Bludso's BBQ — a Hawaiian-style pie topped with pulled pork, shaved pineapple, and teriyaki — proved so popular that Prime Pizza added it permanently to its menu, according to Greer's OC. In January 2026, the chain released a limited-edition Heat Check pie with rapper Earl Sweatshirt featuring Bludso's beef hot links, house-made spicy sausage, and Ezzo beef pepperoni, tied to the brand's Fairfax street-culture roots and sold across all locations, per GlobeNewswire.
Prime Pizza has said these collaborations celebrate the city it loves, push the scene forward and provide fun. That ethos has carried the brand from a single Fairfax Avenue storefront into a fast-growing Southern California chain now backed by institutional capital.
Private Equity Fuels a Bigger Footprint
In January 2026, Prime Pizza partnered with private equity firm CapitalSpring to fund a multi-unit growth strategy aimed at eventually surpassing 40 locations, according to 1851 Franchise. The chain's push into Orange County began in November 2025 with its Mission Viejo shop — its ninth store overall and first in the county — followed by the Brea location in February 2026. Startup costs for Prime Pizza buildouts have ranged from $200,000 to $600,000, and the company relies on third-party delivery platforms like DoorDash and UberEats rather than maintaining its own delivery drivers, co-founder Zak Fishman said in a 2023 interview with PIE 2 PIE.
Prime Pizza has previously drawn Hoodline coverage for its early Little Tokyo debut and for showing up among 40 pizzerias at April's Pizza City Fest in Downtown L.A. LIVE. With the Huntington Beach suite now on the books, the chain's steady march through Orange County suburbs shows little sign of slowing.
