WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) – A local pizza restaurant that opened after its owner battled a brain tumor will be featured on a popular YouTube show later this month.

Inside the kitchen at Wilmington’s Girls with Dough, the crew is hard at work prepping sauce, making dough and crafting pizza.

“A day ranges anywhere from 50 to 100 pizzas on a normal day. On good days, it can be over 200,” Abram Marshall, the restaurant’s head chef, said.

But the secret to their success doesn’t come from the toppings, the cheese or the crust.

“Being in the restaurant industry is hard, and these people show up every day and do a lot of work,” Owner Tammy Tilghman said.

Tilghman has relied on her team for more than folding boxes or slicing pies. In 2018, she set out to create Girls with Dough, but life had other plans.

“One day, I was over at my cafe that used to be across the way, and I collapsed. Found out I had a brain tumor,” Tilghman said.

That led to surgery, and COVID hit, threatening her dream. That’s where her crew and the community stepped in.

“I wouldn’t say I did it. I’d say WE did it. I have an amazing staff here, and they show up every day,” Tilghman said. “Sorry, I just get… I’m so proud of them. My staff, my team, my customers.”

The restaurant opened its doors in 2021. Now, a few years later, Tilghman’s health is steady and Girls with Dough is doing what they do best, making pizza.

All that hard work has led to something incredible.

Girls with Dough will be filmed for “America’s Best Restaurants” on Monday, Jan. 19, with the public welcome to attend lunch service at 11:30 a.m. during filming.

“I feel like all of us are really good friends,” Giselle Garcia, assistant chef, said. “It’s a really great community back here. Everyone is excited.”

It’s not validation, but recognition for the journey they have been on together.

“It was more about letting the world know what my staff does every day,” Tilghman said.

The sweet satisfaction of knowing that through it all, everything has worked out.

Girls with Dough plans to open a new location in downtown Wilmington in the spring.

Copyright 2026 WECT. All rights reserved.