The smells of garlic and cheese permeates tables full of families talking and laughing. Pop music plays on the speakers as football games take over the TVs.

The friendly staff of Diamond Bar’s Mr. G’s Pizza makes the location worth checking out for family dinners and celebrations after the big game.

The locals’ favorite has served up New York style pizza and authentic Italian cuisine on the corner of Grand Avenue and South Diamond Bar Boulevard since 2006.

The original owner from Glendora sold the restaurant to Sam Baskar in 2013. Baskar used to be an engineer for the toy company Mattel Inc. before he decided that he was interested in the food industry. He now runs the restaurant with Abby Baskar and has moved it into Diamond Bar.

Mr. G’s contains a variety of pizza, pasta and sandwich options. Every pizza includes fresh dough, tomato sauce and cheese topped with garlic sauce – all of which can be substituted if asked. Every pasta is given a side of a roll glazed in garlic sauce as well.

“One other thing I particularly like is that they are very generous with the amount of toppings they put on your pizza,” one customer added.

Besides classic toppings, Mr. G’s is also known for being the only pizza restaurant in Diamond Bar to provide Korean BBQ pizza and chicken tikka pizza. The second entree is a twist on the Italian dish that includes the creamy tikka sauce and fresh chicken, and both additions were created to appeal to the diverse community of the town.

“Pizza options are similar to ice cream options,” Baskar said. “In which everyone’s ‘go-to’ is vanilla, or pepperoni in this case.”

Although the classic favors will never go away, Mr. G’s Pizza tries to cater to all the taste buds. Baskar has adopted a customer-centric system in contrast to the standard direction business use.

His goal is to uplift the customer’s mood with a welcoming attitude that is sure to leave a customer satisfied. This idea is based on heliocentrism, where everything provided by the restaurant is centered around the customer, similarly to how the planets revolve around the sun.

Baskar hopes to provide external and internal happiness, both the customers that enter and the employees that work for the restaurant. Mr. G’s pizza is serving more than just food.