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Carlo’s Italian Bakery Pizza, 9878 Central Ave. (at Benito), Montclair

I’ve noticed the relatively new Carlo’s while driving past on Central and, curious, arranged to meet a Montclair friend there for lunch. I had thought we’d be splitting a pizza, but Carlo’s sells pizza by the square, a good lunchtime size, so we did that.

Pizza is also sold by the tray, enough for a family ($15, with 16 squares), and they also have traditional thin crust and specialty pizzas. In addition, the menu has meatball and baked Italian hoagies, a couple of salads and cannoli.

Said to be Pittsburgh-style — and who knew Pittsburgh had its own pizza style? — the signature bakery pizza is similar to Sicilian pan pizza, but thinner. Carlo’s has $5 lunch specials: four squares, two squares and a side salad, two squares and a pizza roll,  or a roll and a side salad. We each got the two squares and a roll. A can of soda or bottle of water comes with, a welcome touch.

Preparation took about 10 minutes, as they’re making your pizza almost to order. With almost no seating, only a short counter with stools, you may want to take your food to go. The pizza was not my favorite, but not bad at all, and the roll, soft and layered with pepperoni, was tasty. It was a satisfying, and cheap, lunch, and it’s hard to eat anywhere for $5 these days. Worth a try.