I had dinner Sunday with friends at Petrillo’s, the famed San Gabriel Valley pizza chain. Two of us had never been while the other two grew up eating there. We went to the original on Valley Boulevard in San Gabriel. Motto: “Since 1954.”

The pizza was thick crust, cut into squares and generously topped. It was terrific. A medium fed four of us (we also shared a spaghetti) and two of us took slices home.

The ambience is old-school Italian pizza parlor, reminiscent of Casa Bianca Pizza in Eagle Rock. The pressed-tin ceiling adds character, as does the lovely neon sign glowing outside.

There are other Petrillo’s locations, including Glendora, and a couple of offshoots whose connection to the real thing I’m unclear on: Mama Petrillo’s, with a location in La Verne, and Petrillii’s, a takeout-only spot in Upland that may be a former Petrillo’s.