BEDFORD – Tucked away in the corner of Sebbins Brook Marketplace on South River Road, just over the Merrimack border, you’ll find the best pizza in Bedford.

Yianni’s Pizza, owned by Yianni Tsihlis, has been a mealtime staple for Bedford residents since it first opened its doors five years ago, but the business’s roots go much deeper than that.

“I’m using my grandfather’s ingredients,” Tsihlis said. “He passed away three years ago, but he taught me how to make pizzas when I was 12 years old.”

His grandfather was “the one who pretty much started everything,” Tsihlis said, referring to his family’s pizza businesses – Yianni’s Pizza in Bedford and Dimitri’s Pizza in Contoocook, the latter of which has been a local favorite for 25 years.

The two restaurants are entirely family-managed, with Tsihlis focusing on Yianni’s Pizza, his parents focusing more on Dimitri’s Pizza, and brother Dimitri dividing his time between the two locations. Tsihlis also has a sister who is involved in various aspects of the business.

The menu at both locations is based on his grandfather’s recipes. Of the variety of dishes offered, Tsihlis said it’s the pizza that’s the most popular. “It’s the one we get the most compliments for.”

Interestingly, no one type of pizza seems to be favored by customers. Pizzas purchased runs the gamut “from the Yianni’s special (their version of an everything pizza) to the barbecue chicken to the veggie to the plain cheeses,” Tsihlis said.

He credits the across-the-board success of his pizzas to the recipes and pizza-making techniques he learned from his grandfather. “It’s the quality of the dough, the ingredients he put in it and how he worked with it. It’s hard to get a good, quality dough if you don’t work with it,” Tsihlis said.

After the pizzas, the most popular menu item is the Grilled Chicken Caesar Wrap. “It’s the way we marinate the chicken and the dressing that we use,” he said. “We go through a lot of that.”

Fresh ingredients play a significant role in everything that’s made at Yianni’s Pizza. “We don’t use any canned mushrooms, nothing. Everything is fresh – fresh vegetables, Italian sausage, hamburger,” he said. “Nothing is premade or precooked. Everything is made to order.”

It’s an approach his customers evidently appreciate, as Tsihlis has plenty of regulars. “I have a lot of people who come in for lunch and a lot of families who come in for dinner or on the weekends,” he said, noting that Yianni’s Pizza is also a favorite locale for children celebrating their birthdays.

“Now that I’ve been in business for five years, I know a lot of customers by name. It’s a very family atmosphere. We’re easy people to get along with.”

In the rare event a customer is unsatisfied, Tsihlis is always on hand to hear complaints and make things right. He works from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week and may very well be the face you see behind the counter when you walk through the door.

For Tsihlis, this is another ingredient in the recipe for success. “For my parents to be in business for 25 years and for me to be in business here for five, the owner has to be there,” he said. “You have to know your customer; you have to interact with people.”

From the source of his recipes to his model for customer service, Yianni’s Pizza is a business that’s deeply rooted in family. In addition to his excellent employees, Tsihlis wanted to acknowledge his family and his wife, Bessie, “for all their help and support in being able to establish this business.”

“We’re a very close family,” he said. “We see each other every day, talk to each other every day. It’s great to have your family support you. I’ve been through my ups and downs, but they’ve been there every single time.”

Being named the best pizza in Bedford is definitely an up. “It’s awesome,” he said. “I’ve been working all my life, since I was 16, to accomplish this kind of thing.”

It’s the icing on the cake for Tsihlis, who welcomed his first child, a son named Emmanuel, just a few weeks earlier.

In time, he may follow in his father’s footsteps and take on a role in the family business. “We did,” Tsihlis said, referring to himself and his siblings, “so I’m sure he’ll carry on the tradition once he grows up.”

If the current reputation of Yianni’s Pizza is any indication, Emmanuel will never have to worry about job security – this business will be in the family for many years to come.

Teresa Santoski can be reached at 594-6466 or tsantoski@nashuatelegraph.com.