New Haven Pizza

[Lochina]

I could not find a thread on this but I know there must be one somewhere. Can someone link me to one if they can find it?

Otherwise - which New Haven pizza joint do you like best and can you describe the pizza? Thanks.

[Scargo]

Frank Pepe's: 157 Wooster Street, New Haven, CT. 06511, (203) 865-5762 Serves only pizzas. Italian sausage pizza is famous. The white clam pie, a Pepe's original, uses fresh clams and too, is famous.

Sally's Apizza: 237 Wooster Street, New Haven CT. 06511, (203) 624-5271

Modern Apizza, 874 State Street, New Haven, CT 06512, (203) 776-5306

I think that's the well-know, well-established short list. I haven't been to any; I can't stand lines! Sigh!....perhaps one day.

You can gorge yourself on pizza information at :The Great New Haven Pizza Debate

BTW, "The Guide" is the quintessence of eateries and prepared food markets in the New Haven area. A great restaurant guide; I trust it.

[sammy]

After being a fan of Pepe's for many years, I am now solidly in the Modern Apizza camp. Pizzas are much more consistent and the calzone is truly incredible.

Pepe's is still better than 99% of the pizzerias in America but not nearly as good as it used to be. They just seem to be inconsistent and careless with the pies.

[ruggele]

I've only been to Sally's twice......but it's hard work.......getting there as we live in the Berkshires.....and getting in and getting your order taken and then getting served.......bring a deck of card, folding chair and an umbrella.....best to get there 45 min before they open.....the pizza was very fine....plain......clam......and there was a third.....3 pizzas cover the table.......but they make great eating.......I'm not sure for me it's worth it........but the pizza are dam good......if I lived in New Haven I'd be there once a week.......bon chance

[aaronwcpa]

After being a fan of Pepe's for many years, I am now solidly in the Modern Apizza camp. Pizzas are much more consistent and the calzone is truly incredible.

Pepe's is still better than 99% of the pizzerias in America but not nearly as good as it used to be. They just seem to be inconsistent and careless with the pies.

←

We were there years ago and it is good but as you get older nothing is as good as it used to be. Trust me.

[Fat Guy]

In terms of Sally's v. Pepe's, my opinion based on eating at least a hundred pizzas at these places is that you should go to Pepe's (or the Spot, which to me is barely distinguishable) if:

- You want a clam pie (and Pepe's hasn't run out). The clam pie at Pepe's is made with fresh chopped top neck clams. The clam pie at Sally's is made with canned clams. There is simply no comparison.

- You want lunch. Sally's is open for dinner only. Pepe's has lunch hours some days.

- You want a shorter wait. For the most part, the wait at Pepe's is shorter primarily because Pepe's is bigger and can handle more volume.

- You want better, more egalitarian service. While both establishments favor their regulars, Sally's is extreme about the proposition.

And you should go to Sally's if:

- You want any pie other than the clam pie, because everything else at Sally's is substantially superior to everything else at Pepe's. The crust is better, the cheese is better, the sauce is better and pretty much all the other toppings are better. The craftsmanship at Sally's is also better, because every Sally's pizza is personally made by a member of the Consiglio family. At Pepe's its much more of an assembly line situation with employees doing the work.

Both places are excellent. I'd choose a Pepe's pizza over any other pizza I've had, except a Sally's pizza.

[sammy]

FG, I agree with you completely as to Pepe's vs Sally's but have you been to Modern recently?

[Fat Guy]

Not for lack of trying, but I haven't.

[Fat Guy]

I could not find a thread on this but I know there must be one somewhere. Can someone link me to one if they can find it?

←

There are a few. The best place to start is probably with Ellen's photos of Pepe's (here), and from there you can follow the links to her photos of Sally's. There are other discussions here and there as well.

[jrichman]

So I will be traveling up I-95 on Friday night and will be in the New Haven area around 8 or 9 PM - how long of a wait can I expect at Pepes or Sally's. Also I hear that there are other locations for Pepes - how are the alternate locations and what will the wait be like there on a Fridayu night around 8 or 9 PM? Thanks!

[Scargo]

Sally's consideration: some consider the service to be pretty bad. Like server abuse is part of the aura. Also, I've read, several times, that some insiders have a special number they can call and make reservations which allows them to bypass the line (since average Joe customer can't make reservations), and gives their orders priority. This slows down the line.

I can't really help you with the wait time. Could be 45 minutes to two hours before you can eat. Perhaps not so bad at 9.

Some prefer to go to Modern, on State Street and not wait quite so long. Very similar pizza, I've been told. Modern's very good. I have not eaten in Sally's or Pepe's.

[Verjuice]

I was at Pepe's a few weeks ago. It was great.

Nothing beats the white clam pie...

[rooftop1000]

The first slice of my White Clam pie on Thursday was wonderful, they dont skimp on ingrediants or flavor in here. But it cooled off really fast and got kind of overpowering and nasty...

so if you are sharing pies with a group eat that one first and fast

oh yeah I have only been to Frank Pepe's ...havent tried the others yet

Tracey

Edited October 21, 2008 by rooftop1000 (log)

[Busboy]

So I will be traveling up I-95 on Friday night and will be in the New Haven area around 8 or 9 PM - how long of a wait can I expect at Pepes or Sally's.  Also I hear that there are other locations for Pepes - how are the alternate locations and what will the wait be like there on a Fridayu night around 8 or 9 PM?  Thanks!

←

I had a cabbie tell me that he calls Pepe's two hours in advance for carry-out on Friday nights. I fear your wait will be long.

The only thing I regret about my son leaving Worcester Polytechnic is that I no longer pass through New Haven on a regular basis. On our last trip south, we waited 45 minutes for Sally's, but we were almost the last in line on a Sunday night. Apparently the wait earlier in the evening was much longer. Service was comically abrupt, but in a good way -- it appeared to be something of an shtick.

FWIW, I much prefer Pepe's of the big three.

Edited October 21, 2008 by Busboy (log)

[jrichman]

so it sounds like the new haven places on a friday night will have a long wait - how about the pepes in fairfield as far as waits on a friday night?

[iriee]

try pepes basic tomato pie with anchovies,,,its the best!

[Thanks for the Crepes]

Serious Eats guide to regional pizza styles is a great place to start learning about New Haven apizza and other styles.

 

http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives/2008/01/a-list-of-regional-pizza-styles.html

[Thanks for the Crepes]

There's an active thread on roadfood.com about Connecticut pizza, and coverage of several restaurants in New Haven. There's information at post no. 35 that Modern Apizza may even ship, although this person picked their shrink-wrapped, par-baked pies up.

 

http://www.roadfood.com/Forums/So-Much-Pizza-in-Connecticut-m801324.aspx

 

Can you tell it is one of my dearest dreams to go on a New Haven apizza crawl?

 

This quote from Michael Stern's review of Pepe's Pizzeria on the Roadfood website is what hooked me. "When the warden asks us what we want for our last meal, this is it: Pepe's white clam pizza." 

 

I have made the clam pizza at home trying to mimic the description of Pepe's but only with canned clams. It's very good to me, but I'm sure theirs is better.