COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — A Columbus pizzeria around for more than 60 years has received a nationwide prize.

Terita’s Pizza, a family-run pizza shop at 3905 Cleveland Ave., was included on PMQ Pizza Magazine’s list of the 25 most popular independent pizzerias in America in December, earning the No. 20 spot. The local pizzeria was opened in 1959 by Gus Iannarino. Nearly 65 years later, his son, Tom, continues to run the business.

According to Tom, the restaurant was named after his sisters Teri and Marita by his father. This detail goes to show that, from the start, Terita’s has been a family business. Tom began working at his father’s shop at a young age.

“In fifth grade I was in here working, I’ve worked all my life in here,” he said. “It’s just in your blood, I guess, after you’ve done it so long.

Tom said that Terita’s Pizza sets itself apart with high-quality ingredients. He said that, despite not offering things like delivery, they continue to see community support because of that quality.

“We’ve used the best of everything since we started,” he said. “We haven’t changed a thing. The best cheese, the best pepperoni, and I think that says something that we’ve been in business for all these years. We don’t deliver, we don’t do lunch, we open at 4 p.m. every day.”

He even made a bold claim about their sausage, which is made in-house.

“Our sausage is probably the best in Columbus,” Tom said.

In addition to pizza, Terita’s serves spaghetti, salads, subs and garlic bread.

Terita’s has seen a growing customer base over the years, but one thing that remains special about the restaurant is the unwavering commitment it receives from longtime customers.

“You still see the (customers) that were always here,” employee James Midlick said. “Every Friday night, they’re still the same, here every Friday night. It’s a good portion of the customers, people who are from this neighborhood.”

Community support has remained constant over the years, but nationwide support in the form of a magazine ranking them among the top 25 independent pizzerias in the country was a great honor for Terita’s.

“Who would’ve ever thought?” Tom said. “I wish my dad would have been around to see it. It’s just fantastic, this little place. Words can’t express.”

Midlick said that this ranking goes to show that the restaurant’s longtime traditions don’t go unnoticed.

“For us to be competing with some of the other places that have fallen on there, you see places that have special high-class type of pizzas, and then you see us here, we live off of what Tom has been doing, the best ingredients that we can get and homemade sausage,” Midlick said. “They don’t think you can find it anywhere else.”