DUNELLEN – Want to get a few pies from Giulio's Pizza on North Avenue here? First, you'll have to pull up your pants.

A new policy, spelled out on a neon-green sign on the front door, tells patrons they won't be served if they're wearing saggy pants with their underwear showing.

"We’re not asking for much," said Maria Herrera, an employee whose family owns the restaurant. "We are just asking that when you come in, you respect the establishment and the people."

The restaurant first decided to make the rule when, after telling area youths to pull up their pants, one retorted, "There's no sign on the door saying I have to."

With some construction paper and a marker, the problem was solved.

Just before noon on Wednesday, that decision seemed to have gone over well with customers.

"Every place should have this rule," said Luis Salmeron.

Recently, Salmeron said he was having lunch in Newark when he saw a group of teens sitting on their belts.

He's tired of "having lunch while seeing someone's dirty laundry."

The pizza joint in this small northern Middlesex County borough isn't the only place to tighten the belt on its dress code. In Wildwood, down the shore, a new ban on saggy pants prevents the low-slung sartorial choice from the oceanfront boardwalks. The borough of Penns Grove in South Jersey is also considering a ban. Such bans often face accusations of racism from people in the African-American community.

Herrera said that customer reactions since the sign went up have been a mixed bag.

"Some customers, a few customers that saw it in a negative way, others really welcomed it, because they like to come in here, sit down, have dinner, and just relax," she said. "They don’t want to come in here and see people with their underwear showing. That’s basically the main idea."

The sign, which is on the front door, gives customers a chance to hike up their pants before they walk in, Herrera said. Some flout the new rule.

"We have quite a few, but we tell them if you don’t put up your pants, there’s no service," she said.

The new policy at the pizza shop in Dunellen has gained a small amount of national attention: After being featured on News 12 New Jersey, the story was also broadcast on a television station in Las Vegas

For more Middlesex County pizza news, make sure to check out our poll of the best Middlesex County pizza places. Voting ends Thursday at noon.