What happens when you take the grit of an amateur boxer, a deep reverence for Mexican-American family roots, and a late-night obsession with bread-making? You get The Last Round Tavern, a standout fixture redefining the local pizza scene in San Jose’s East Village.
On the latest episode of the podcast, host Erica D’Arcangelo sat down with founder Caleb to uncover the blood, sweat, and tears behind his thriving shop. From learning dough mechanics at three in the morning to surviving a global pandemic less than a year after opening, Caleb has built a brand that prioritizes thoughtful, gut-friendly ingredients alongside a distinct cultural punch.
The Grit Behind the Name
The name of the tavern isn’t just a clever catchphrase. Caleb spent his childhood and teenage years inside a boxing ring, competing in major amateur tournaments and climbing all the way to the Junior Olympics. His trainer acted as a father figure, cementing a baseline of discipline alongside Caleb’s own father.
“Boxing is so difficult, and it teaches you a lot of life lessons. Doing things when you don’t feel like it, when you’re tired or sore… those skills serve you in the long run.”
— Caleb, The Last Round Tavern
That athletic resilience became a saving grace when Caleb stepped into his first business endeavor. The Last Round Tavern opened its doors just nine months before the 2020 pandemic hit. While older, established restaurants were forced to navigate massive overhead costs and heartbreaking layoffs, Caleb’s lean, scrappy operation took the blow right on the chin. By relying on his boxing mentality, he used the high-stress environment to master his operational systems and slowly cultivate real local relationships.
Taming the Sourdough Starter
Caleb is entirely self-taught. Driven by a lifelong love for pizza as a communal comfort food, he became determined to bring a quality concept to an old San Jose storefront that had been a pizzeria back in the 1960s and 70s. Armed with textbooks like Tony Gemignani’s The Pizza Bible and endless hours of YouTube research, he transformed his kitchen into a midnight laboratory, tossing out countless ruined dough balls and oddly shaped test pizzas until he found his rhythm.
The resulting masterpiece is a unique West Coast hybrid: a thin, crispy Midwestern tavern-style square cut, built entirely on a wild Bay Area sourdough starter. For Caleb, choosing sourdough was a deliberate health and flavor choice. He wanted to push back against the heavy, greasy, oil-slicked pies that dominated the local landscape. The long fermentation process of sourdough breaks down gluten, resulting in a lighter, gut-friendly crust that carries a distinct, delicious tang.
Putting Family Heritage on a Pizza
The menu at The Last Round Tavern breaks traditional pizza rules by highlighting complex, slow-braised meats. Instead of standard deli toppings, Caleb adapts the flavor profiles of the backyard grilled sandwiches his father used to make for family pay-per-view fight nights.
The undisputed fan favorite since day one is the Cubano Pizza. It features a garlic bay base layered with ham, pulled pork, and salami. Instead of classic pickles, Caleb throws on pepperoni to add a spicy bite. The pie is finished out of the oven with fresh spinach and a custom-blended, smooth mustard sauce that cuts with mayonnaise to tie the savory elements together perfectly. Another nod to his favorite Midwest style is the Wrigleyville, which uses authentic Marconi giardiniera hot mix and Italian sausage direct from Chicago.
The Long Game of Hospitality
As the tavern approaches its seventh year of business, Caleb often laughs when new neighbors walk in, assuming it is a brand-new grand opening. He is open about the fact that it took years of quiet grinding in the trenches to turn his misshapen, experimental pies into the pristine round pizzas hitting tables today.
At 33 years old, Caleb’s primary focus has shifted from simply perfecting the food to cultivating the next generation of leaders within his kitchen. He views his restaurant as a classroom where young staff can master communication, respect, and emotional boundary-setting—the exact life skills that boxing gave him.
Find The Last Round Tavern
Follow The Last Round on Instagram @thelastroundsj
Stay updated with the latest from amazing family-owned pizzerias across the globe by subscribing to The Pizza Story Podcast today!
Get our books: A Story About Pizza, Pietro’s Pizza, Pietro’s Pizza Toppings, Pietro’s Italian Christmas.