When I  first stepped foot into the homey atmosphere of Mr. G’s Pizza, I was instantly hit with nostalgia. With music from the early 2000s playing overhead and the big chalkboard-like menu, I felt nine years old again at the classic pizza parlor.

I grabbed a seat at a table and prepared my order. Although menus were not provided at the table, the bold text on the menu posted at the front of the room was large enough to be seen from my seat. Despite the restaurant being fairly empty most of the time, many people came in for pick up orders.

I ordered a hot chicken parmigiana sandwich for $9. The wait for the sandwich was about five minutes. The sandwich contained an abundance of tomato sauce, fried chicken and gooey mozzarella cheese that stretched satisfyingly when I pulled each half of the sandwich apart.

Taste wise, the sandwich was mediocre for its price. The sauce itself was bland and reminiscent of that found in a microwavable pizza roll. The fried chicken was primarily fried dough with little chicken at all, which had no flavor to be found. However, the bread was lightly toasted, which gave the outside the perfect crunch while keeping the inside soft.

But  Mr. G’s truly shined with its pizza. Lightly dusted with Italian seasoning and accompanied by a chewy mozzarella, the cheese pizza delivered a simple dish with just enough flavor to satisfy the customer. The sauce was not excessive in quantity and went along well with the fresh cheese. For $8, I was satisfied with this classic recipe.

The pasta had a few weak points. For $8.50, the spaghetti meatballs were average. Though reasonably priced, I had an issue with the sauce and pasta’s cohesiveness. The sauce was unable to fully mix with the pasta. Instead of eating spaghetti, I felt like I was eating pasta and sauce. Additionally, the tomato sauce was rather lackluster, though its taste did improve with the added cheese and seasoning on top. The noodles were tasteless and the meatballs were rather rubbery. Overall, the dish wasn’t anything special.

My experience at Mr. G’s had more pros than cons, though ultimately the only reason I would consider coming back in the future is to try more of their diverse specialty pizzas.