There is a moment at the counter of Andiccio24 at The Square, Sunninghill, when a first timer realises that there’s no set menu, and that you build your own pizza. Even your pizza’s base is up for discussion. The sauce and toppings are all up to the person ordering, and the staff have heard every combination under the sun: mince and banana, feta and chorizo, even ham and pineapple, which still starts arguments at braais and dinner tables across the country.

The brand’s own explanation for their customised pizzas is that people are different, they like different things, and a business built in a country this diverse should cater to choice, rather than dictate it. The line that sums up their philosophy is even blunter: “You are the ruler of your taste buds.”

Andiccio24 has numerous branches across Gauteng, and the Sunninghill store at Shop 13 trades until midnight seven days a week, with online ordering and free delivery. Their bases have kept up with the way people eat, too. Alongside the original wheat dough there are banting, cauliflower and zucchini options, so the office’s one low carb colleague no longer has to sit out the Friday order.

And the dessert pizzas are the guilty secret. Dessert pizzas? What sorcery is this? Try a Nutella base with a choice of sweet toppings. It has become the thing that parents order for a birthday, and then quietly finish themselves, to “help the kid out”.

The appeal is not really in the novelty. It is the freedom of getting exactly what you want, made by someone who, in the brand’s own words, will “chuckle at your unusual requests, sample your combinations, and fall in love”. Sunninghill has plenty of places to eat, and Andiccio24 is the one where you can be certain that your order will not be met by a rolling of eyeballs.