By Kristin Garrard, Moon News Cloud Contributor

Moon Township’s Hometown Pizza has been a popular stop for area residents for almost 20 years. But in that time, there have been changes to the restaurant, the menu and the ownership.

Mark Latvila co-founded the pizza shop in 1995 along with two other gentlemen. Recently, Anvar Karave, one of the founders, became the sole owner of the shop, which is not part of a national chain.

He’s already started putting his stamp on Hometown Pizza. A new website “displaying a new and updated menu for customers to view,” went live this week, said Karave. 

He updated other aspects of the shop, including the hours of operation. The pizza shop will open at 10 a.m., one hour earlier than before. “The new starting time will help us better prepare in order to provide full service to the customers,” said Karave.

Customer satisfaction is emphasized at Hometown Pizza especially because of its ties with Robert Morris University and other local businesses. “We serve about 50 people at least from Robert Morris University” each day, Karave estimated.

“The best thing about Hometown Pizza is the quick delivery and great specials,” said Moon resident Sheldon Clayton.  “The pizza is great, fast and cheap.  That is everything I want out of a pizza place.”

Hometown Pizza is located off Thorn Run Road and is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. until 1 a.m. Sundays through Thursdays, and until 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturdays.