Pizza n’ Such, 202 Yale Ave. (at 2nd), Claremont

Not to be confused with Pizza ‘N Stuff in La Verne, its closest cousin by punctuation, Pizza n’ Such has been a Claremont fixture since 1979, family owned and operated.

A college and family favorite, the restaurant occupies a prominent corner downtown in a former bank, later a pharmacy, built in in 1912 — 100 years ago this year! — across from Starbucks and the Village Grille. In a nice touch, the blade sign on the corner is an altered and restored version of the pharmacy sign that hung there for many years.

The interior includes a wooden bar with beer and wine, green booths, dark wood, a high ceiling, original moldings and hanging lamps and fans. It’s classy but casual.

I end up there probably once a year and once had a birthday lunch there with a group. I went in recently for lunch because I had a birthday coupon for a free medium pizza as long as I ordered a starter. So I got the house salad ($4) and then a medium with spinach (usually $14).

Their crusts are soft and doughy and the pizzas generous with the tomato sauce. The result is a bit bland, but fair. By personal preference I’m more of a thin-crust guy, and with zPizza, Union on Yale and La Parolaccia all in the Village, Pizza n’ Such might be my least favorite Village pizza. (Prompting a question: Why hasn’t someone capitalized on the local nomenclature to open a Village Pizzeria?)

Pizza n’ Such, though, is a lot of people’s favorite, and if it’s not my first choice, and often I kind of overlook it, I’m always happy if a friend suggests meeting there: Oh, yeah, Pizza n’ Such.

Service is friendly and generally provided by high school or college students. Besides pizzas, they have sub sandwiches, salads and pastas, and for dessert they have Dr. Bob’s ice cream, a local favorite. That’s the n’ Such.