Is Pina Pizza House Still Open? Mystery Diners Update (Downey, CA)

In the Mystery Diners episode "Extra Curricular," which aired November 16, 2012, Johnny, owner of Pina Pizza House in Downey, suspected that a college-enrolled waiter was more focused on his social life than his shift, and worried the behavior was carrying over into how he treated customers and coworkers. Charles Stiles sent investigators Grant and Jill in undercover as customers to watch the waiter work a normal night and see whether his attitude toward the job matched what he had told Johnny. The investigators observed the waiter's conduct on the floor, and Johnny was advised to lay out concrete performance expectations and hold the employee to them going forward rather than take his account of his own effort at face value.

According to the episode, Johnny addressed the issue directly with the waiter afterward. Wikipedia's article on Mystery Diners notes, citing its sources, that the show carries an on-screen disclaimer stating some events may be staged or re-enacted for dramatic purposes, and that a television critic has described its scenarios and performances as implausible. Pina Pizza House's own website, checked in September 2026, listed current weekly hours and an active online ordering option and described the restaurant as still owned and operated by the Persico family since 1959, and Google Places lists its business status as operational.