For Carmine Testa, co-owner of Carmine’s Pizza Factory, pizza making is a family trade. Since his father opened a pizzeria when he was 13 years old, Carmine has been working in the kitchen. “I learned to cook the entire menu,” he said of his teenage years at his father’s restaurant. “I enjoyed doing it.”

In 2000, he opened Carmine’s Pizza Factory with his sister Mary. It is one of those old-school neighborhood pizza joints, with exposed brick walls, cheese shakers on heavy wood tables, and New York-style pies displayed on glass shelves. The pizzas are solid, made with homemade tomato sauce, mozzarella that oozes over the edges of each slice, and nicely browned thin crust with a reliable crackle and pleasant bite.