Around Town: Say goodbye to the debates and hello to pizza

Tired of the debates? Looking for a good place to watch the baseball playoffs? Do you have a young family?

Of all the pizza joints in the 91011 — and I have personally supported Georgee’s, Blaze, Round Table, and La Cañada Imports — the clear choice for a family night out, from my perspective, is Hello Pizza!

For young families, Hello Pizza! is a safe, relaxed environment where parents and kids can socialize.

The venue is kid friendly, from the Lego table to the video games. The Hello Pizza! manager and staff are nice people who make the youngsters feel welcome. The dining area is one big room, so the parents can see their children at all times.

You’ll see young families with two, three or four kids, dining out. Or a couple of families will meet for dinner. The kids will gather at one table while the parents sit nearby.

The menu includes fried chicken, appetizers, regular and gluten-free pizza and excellent salads.

The gluten-free pizza is a big draw. I’ve tried gluten-free pizza all over the state. Hello Pizza!’s gluten-free pizza dough is better than Blaze’s. Why? Hello Pizza! sources a high quality dough from a bakery in Venice, Calif. It costs more, tastes better and everyone is happy.

Be advised that the dining area can get noisy, but for young families, that’s not a problem. Kids love it. The center tables are low and child-friendly. They even do birthday parties.

As for the salads, I always order the Caesar. It is equal to any other restaurant in town. There are also other salad options, including a house Italian and “Oriental Chicken Salad.”

Folks say the fried chicken is great. It was added to the menu after KFC shut down. There’s fried, sweet and spicy, and soy sauce chicken. They also sell pasta, lasagna and bulgogi pizza.

If you want a place to drink a beer, eat a sandwich, sit outdoors and hang with adult friends, go to Georgee’s, but if you have young kids, Hello Pizza! is a toned down, safer version of Chuck E. Cheese, but with great food.

That said, it’s strange that Hello Pizza! has been off the radar for many La Cañadans.

You can drive by a place, day after day, and not register the location.

Or maybe it’s hard to comprehend the changing demographic of our town.

When we first moved here, in the ’70s, there was one demographic in La Cañada. It was Caucasian with a smattering of other ethnicities and races.

Today, La Cañada is a little more diverse.

When Around Town mentioned that Lupe’s Place burritos made the top 20 list for all of Los Angeles County, some La Cañadans asked me, “Where is Lupe’s?” (Answer: it’s on Foothill, near Indiana.) Lupe’s was invisible to the majority demographic. (Not any more!)

By the same token, some La Cañadans have asked, “Where is Hello Pizza!?” (Answer: it’s on Foothill, near Ocean View.)

They’ve also asked, “What is KimChi Pizza?” (Answer: it’s awesome!)

Try it. You’ll like it.

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ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Cañada Flintridge resident and an attorney with Law Offices of Torres and Brenner in Pasadena. Contact her at anitasusan.brenner@yahoo.com. Follow her on Instagram @realanitabrenner, Facebook and on Twitter @anitabrenner.