OT: Best Pizza in CT

[I Bleed Blue]

This shouldn't be a question.

OT: - Best grinder in CT.

Dang! Y’all beat me to it! Well spoiler alert, the answer is Wethersfield Pizza’s Chicken Parm.

/thread

 

[Guapo]

Dang! Y’all beat me to it! Well spoiler alert, the answer is Wethersfield Pizza’s Chicken Parm.

/thread

Angelo’s chicken park in Glastonbury is pretty great too.

(Btw the thread seems to support my original theory regard new haven pizza and Hartford grinders)

 

[nomar]

Abate's is good for pizza, better for calzones, and does a bang up job with seafood and traditional Italian dishes. I'd go there for old style Italian food, not necessarily for pizza though... not that it was bad, but look at it's neighbors: Pepe's, The Spot, Sally's -- hard to compete on those couple of blocks.

Is Tony & Lucille’s still there? We used to hit that place for calzones.

 

[8893]

Is Tony & Lucille’s still there? We used to hit that place for calzones.

Yep and yep. And Libby’s, too; although I prefer Lucibello’s on Grand.

 

[jibsey]

7.4.


To recap:
Sally's - 9.2
Modern - 8.8
Pepe’s - 8.5
BAR - 7-4

Pepe’s gets a 2 with their burnt crust and few toppings.

 

[nomar]

Yep and yep. And Libby’s, too; although I prefer Lucibello’s on Grand.

When I was a kid, my perfect summer night involved going to Sally’s for a white clam & bacon pie (my grandma and sister always ordered it and it came out first so I’d eat a slice or two of that) and a red sausage & onion pie (sometimes with garlic and/or native tomatoes) and then walking to Libby’s for a pina colada/watermelon ice. And then telling my dad to drive home as fast as he could.

 

[storrsroars]

Pepe’s gets a 2 with their burnt crust and few toppings.

You would love pizza in Pittsburgh. Crusts with all the delectability of an Olive Garden breadstick.

As a side note, I now have my hands on one of these. And sometime during the next 72 hours I fully plan on air-frying a pizza. I air-fried a ham & cheese sandwich today. It was an epiphany.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

He’s not wrong. I end up agreeing with him more than disagreeing. The order is correct, and Bar totally flopped, which is not surprising given the evanescent character of that pie. I think just placing it in a takeout box probably ruins it

Who gets a plain cheese pizza at BAR? And to go? No way. Mashed potato & bacon, or whatever else, and eat it there.
What he chose IS like Joe's, and Joe's is strictly for slices.

By the way he was judging, he'd have been better off w/DaLegna, and I sooner choose One6Three or Next Door over DaLegna. He'd have probably missed that Ernie's is more like a deliciously baked bread, as I did for a while until I got how wonderful it is to have Pat nearby making me pizza that I and the undiscriminating suburban grandkids can equally love.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Pepe’s gets a 2 with their burnt crust and few toppings.

You sound like the people who wait an hour and leave behind their uneaten crusts.

 

[uconnphil2016]

What’s the low down on bufalina? I’ve never been and want to go after all this talk of it in this thread. Looks kind of similar to the type of pie I’d see at Krust in Middletown? The pics make it look like an ‘artisinal’ pie and those places tend to be good but not on a Sally’s or modern level. What does the bufalina pie taste like? What’s a good comp?

 

[Devland]

I'm not much of a pizza person (probably have pizza once or twice a year), but I would think "the best" would depend on what you order. I know if you asked me what my favorite Chinese, Indian or Mediterranean restaurant was, I would base it on the particular dish I was ordering. Certain restaurants do different things better. BTW, if you asked me what the best pizza in CT was I would say Krust's brussels pizza. Mostly because I am a lover of brussel sprouts more than the pizza. I could just eat the toppings.

 

[8893]

What’s the low down on bufalina? I’ve never been and want to go after all this talk of it in this thread. Looks kind of similar to the type of pie I’d see at Krust in Middletown? The pics make it look like an ‘artisinal’ pie and those places tend to be good but not on a Sally’s or modern level. What does the bufalina pie taste like? What’s a good comp?

Although this NYT review is a few years old, and based on a different seasonal menu than they have now, I think it captures the essence of the place pretty well:

A Pizzeria’s Simple Pursuit of the Sublime

As I said upthread, the Tre Carni is my favorite on the regular menu and the Maiale and Pepita are my favorites on the Fall menu. Speck (smoked prosciutto) is my favorite topping there.

Krust in Middletown and Otto in Chester are based on a similar concept, but I think Bufalina executes it better. @Devland kind of makes that point above with respect to Krust's brussels sprouts pie, which I ordered the first time I went there. I remember the brussels sprouts more than the pie, and they kind of overpowered it. Similarly, at Otto I think they try to do too much with toppings. For me, Bufalina excels because of its simple elegance and their focus on seasonal ingredients rather than trends. And I think their crust is just about pefect. It is inevitable that many will be disappointed after all the hype, but I don't think there is a good comp, except for some pizzas we had in Italy, where the Bufalina people learned to do what they do.

 

[husky429]

What’s the low down on bufalina? I’ve never been and want to go after all this talk of it in this thread. Looks kind of similar to the type of pie I’d see at Krust in Middletown? The pics make it look like an ‘artisinal’ pie and those places tend to be good but not on a Sally’s or modern level. What does the bufalina pie taste like? What’s a good comp?

Krust is not even close to Bufalina. They have a feaux Neapolitan thing going on, but they're more of a whisky bar than anything. I don't like it that much--way too much sauce for a thin crust pie and their mozz was just okay.

Bufalina is as close to a real Neapolitan as you'll get without having that unnecessary VPN label.

 

[DaveHuskiesFan]

Anyone ever had Gusta Pizza in Florence, Italy?

Hands down my favorite and would get it 2x a week when I studied abroad there.

 

[8893]

You sound like the people who wait an hour and leave behind their uneaten crusts.

Speaking of crusts, two new developments there for me:

First, Bufalina now sells their chili oil in bottles. Of course I bought one and have been using it regularly on pizza crusts ("bones") at home. Only minor issue is that they say to refrigerate after opening, but it turns solid in the fridge, so you need to warm it up before using (I just hold it under the faucet with hot water for a minute, but that means that the label will be coming off soon).

Second, Mrs. 8893 and one of our daughters were in D.C. two weeks ago and ate at the hotel restaurant, which featured Mike's Hot Honey both on one of its pizzas and on the table as a condiment that they suggested for use on crusts. They brought home a bottle for me and I've been enjoying alternating between that and the Bufalina chili oil on the bones.

Krust is not even close to Bufalina. They have a feaux Neapolitan thing going on, but they're more of a whisky bar than anything. I don't like it that much--way too much sauce for a thin crust pie and their mozz was just okay.

Bufalina is as close to a real Neapolitan as you'll get without having that unnecessary VPN label.

Agreed, Krust is more hipster than anything else imo. I've been there twice and didn't love the pie either time, and I doubt I would go back. Even the brussels sprouts weren't great; they were too charred for my tastes.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Anyone ever had Gusta Pizza in Florence, Italy?

Hands down my favorite and would get it 2x a week when I studied abroad there.

Nope, was too busy eating gelato when I backpacked through Florence many years ago, for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, etc.

 

[Waquoit]

WTF is that?

 

[8893]

WTF is that?

Honest to God, I had night terrors about it last night. Can't unsee.

 

[August_West]

Anyone ever had Gusta Pizza in Florence, Italy?

Hands down my favorite and would get it 2x a week when I studied abroad there.

Nope, was too busy eating gelato when I backpacked through Florence many years ago, for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, etc.

Speaking of travel food.

Anyone ever have the Kadal Virundhu at Southern Spice restaurant inside the Taj Cormandel Hotel in Chennai?

 

[August_West]

Honest to God, I had night terrors about it last night. Can't unsee.

@storrsroars

 

[storrsroars]

Speaking of travel food.

Anyone ever have the Kadal Virundhu at Southern Spice restaurant inside the Taj Cormandel Hotel in Chennai?

Yeah, and I was disappointed. Ordered the mud crabs. Not enough crab, too much mud. And the spice level was too tame. Kadal Virundhu... what, were you thinking going vegetarian?

j/k, but good retort.

fwiw, I've had a couple of pizzas in Firenze (don't recall those names, but do recall a zucchini blossom and ricotta pie) as well as a steak Florentine at Natalie. Everything was excellent, but Bologna even better.

 

[August_West]

Yeah, and I was disappointed. Ordered the mud crabs. Not enough crab, too much mud. And the spice level was too tame. Kadal Virundhu... what, were you thinking going vegetarian?

If I lived in India I could be a full time vegetarian. No problem at all. I rarely ate meat when out there. Obviously cow was not happening. Lamb and chicken you could get. But didnt need to. Chennai being on the Southern coast had lots of decent seafood though. Which was part of the Kadal Virundhu. The crab was to die for.

 

[8893]

fwiw, I've had a couple of pizzas in Firenze (don't recall those names, but do recall a zucchini blossom and ricotta pie) as well as a steak Florentine at Natalie. Everything was excellent, but Bologna even better.

Agree, Bologna is underrated by Americans; it is considered the culinary capital of Italy. We had an excellent meal there, but I honestly believe it is hard to find bad food anywhere in Italy. We were there for almost three weeks and almost every meal was memorable.

 

[8893]

If I lived in India I could be a full time vegetarian. No problem at all. I rarely ate meat when out there. Obviously cow was not happening. Lamb and chicken you could get. But didnt need to. Chennai being on the Southern coast had lots of decent seafood though. Which was part of the Kadal Virundhu. The crab was to die for.

Now I miss Thali and Thali Too.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Speaking of travel food.

Anyone ever have the Kadal Virundhu at Southern Spice restaurant inside the Taj Cormandel Hotel in Chennai?

No, been to Chennai once; but, stayed at the Turyaa Chennai instead. Did not get out much as lunch & dinner were brought to the office. After 12 to 16 hours of meetings each day, didn't go out much, especially in India. I did have a free, non-travel weekend in Manila though and explored a bit. I blame that weekend for my addition to Thai food. In India, my greatest adventure was trying an auto-rickshaw ride, once. Overall, it was a busy month in between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I flew out to Manila the Saturday after Thanksgiving, after a week there, went to Chennai, and then the following week Mumbai. Then, just before Christmas, I got to enjoy one of the great pleasures in life. A 17-hour, direct flight from Mumbai to Newark in coach in the last row of a 777. The CEO at that company was a bit cheap on business travel expenses.