OT: Best Pizza in CT

[8893]

The guys who cleans our gutters is from West Haven. I asked him if he was a Zupp's guy and he said of course, and in the next breath he mentioned Mike's, which he said was as good as any pizza he's ever had, but obviously much less heralded than the big three level. He said that Mike's non-pizza offerings are also great.

So... @Huskybass , as the resident Mike's expert, what pies have been the best among the ones you've had there? Have you had any non-pizza items there?

 

[Huskybass]

The guys who cleans our gutters is from West Haven. I asked him if he was a Zupp's guy and he said of course, and in the next breath he mentioned Mike's, which he said was as good as any pizza he's ever had, but obviously much less heralded than the big three level. He said that Mike's non-pizza offerings are also great.

So... @Huskybass , as the resident Mike's expert, what pies have been the best among the ones you've had there? Have you had any non-pizza items there?

I've only had Mike's twice. Once to go and once there. I found it to be better than Zupp's and right in the conversation with the New Haven legends. The Meatball was outstanding. Understand that the place is a dive, filled with character. Really nice owner, his sister is the waitress, and she is worth the price of admission, great stories

As far as the non-pizza offerings, I have never tried any of them although I have to say that the couple seated at a table nearby us had some sort of pasta and meatball dish that looked absolutely out of this world.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

The guys who cleans our gutters is from West Haven. I asked him if he was a Zupp's guy and he said of course, and in the next breath he mentioned Mike's, which he said was as good as any pizza he's ever had, but obviously much less heralded than the big three level. He said that Mike's non-pizza offerings are also great.

So... @Huskybass , as the resident Mike's expert, what pies have been the best among the ones you've had there? Have you had any non-pizza items there?

Did you ever buy that Pelaton?

 

[8893]

Did you ever buy that Pelaton?

Yes. Have had it since mid-June.

 

[Steelerone]

Years ago, when they opened West Farms Mall, they had a small place called "The Italian Way". They did the very best Sicilian Pizza I've ever eaten. Unfortunately the Mall started to charge the smaller restaurants higher rents. I found out later that this was their way of phasing them out because they wanted people shopping rather than eating. Does anyone know if they ever reopened anywhere else in Ct.?

 

[methodology]

@August_West @8893

Good friends of mine bought Strega in branford and are completely renovating the place and opening it up hopefully, unless another shutdown, under the name Doma

They are huge pizza connoisseurs refurbished the pizza oven that was already in there.

Have any recommendations for pizza combination? They want to be the wood fired bar pizza place of the shoreline and will have a solid regular menu as I connected them with the head chef of the now closed Elizabeth cafe

 

[hank970]

The Hot Tomato in Fruita, Colorado. Long drive for you deprived East Coast denizens, but worth it. Youthful vibe, popular with mountain bikers and other cyclists. Indoor and outdoor venues (in fact, during this pandemic, the adjacent street has been roped off to accommodate additional outdoor seating).

The civic-minded gals who own the place use some of their profits as seed money to help other businesses get started in this small town.

 

[The Funster]

happiness is walking into the lunch room and finding a dozen pies from Modern.

 

[8893]

@August_West @8893

Good friends of mine bought Strega in branford and are completely renovating the place and opening it up hopefully, unless another shutdown, under the name Doma

They are huge pizza connoisseurs refurbished the pizza oven that was already in there.

Have any recommendations for pizza combination? They want to be the wood fired bar pizza place of the shoreline and will have a solid regular menu as I connected them with the head chef of the now closed Elizabeth cafe

Nice. I didn't know Elizabeth's had closed, or that Strega had closed. I only went to Strega once. We got one pizza, a couple apps, an entree and some wine. I remember that one of the apps was excellent and the wine selection was very decent; the entree was good; and the pie was good but poorly executed. Too many toppings and not firm enough crust, so it needed to be eaten with a fork and knife.

It's no secret that I think Bufalina is king of the wood fired pizza places, and I love 99% of the combinations they have on their regular, seasonal and special menus.

I would say that speck is probably my single favorite topping that they offer. Although it goes well with and improves almost any pie imo, the best combination I can recall with it is their seasonal Fichi pie, with figs, gorgonzola dolce and speck. We also like adding it to their pumpkin seed pesto pie. Can't remember which cheese(s) they use on that one.

I'll also give a pitch for our favorite combination from Modern, a red pie with mozz, eggplant and artichoke hearts. But it's gotta be relatively thin, crisp, breaded eggplant. Most places don't do eggplant well as a pizza topping in my experience; Modern is the best hands down. Grand Apizza and Amato's (Madison) also do a surprisingly good job with it.

Keep us posted on their opening. Looking forward to checking it out.

 

[storrsroars]

I would say that speck is probably my single favorite topping that they offer. Although it goes well with and improves almost any pie imo, the best combination I can recall with it is their seasonal Fichi pie, with figs, gorgonzola dolce and speck.

It's a good combination. We have a place close to home that serves similar, but prosciutto instead of speck, called the "Joe T.".

I agree on the eggplant. The Harry's here does a decent job with it, but best I've ever had was at the old P&D Pizza on the Port Chester/Rye Brook line, which closed in 2010. I don't know why so many places do a lousy job with it.

 

[arch]

Nice. I didn't know Elizabeth's had closed, or that Strega had closed. I only went to Strega once. We got one pizza, a couple apps, an entree and some wine. I remember that one of the apps was excellent and the wine selection was very decent; the entree was good; and the pie was good but poorly executed. Too many toppings and not firm enough crust, so it needed to be eaten with a fork and knife.

It's no secret that I think Bufalina is king of the wood fired pizza places, and I love 99% of the combinations they have on their regular, seasonal and special menus.

I would say that speck is probably my single favorite topping that they offer. Although it goes well with and improves almost any pie imo, the best combination I can recall with it is their seasonal Fichi pie, with figs, gorgonzola dolce and speck. We also like adding it to their pumpkin seed pesto pie. Can't remember which cheese(s) they use on that one.

I'll also give a pitch for our favorite combination from Modern, a red pie with mozz, eggplant and artichoke hearts. But it's gotta be relatively thin, crisp, breaded eggplant. Most places don't do eggplant well as a pizza topping in my experience; Modern is the best hands down. Grand Apizza and Amato's (Madison) also do a surprisingly good job with it.

Keep us posted on their opening. Looking forward to checking it out.

If this is the first time one has heard of “speck” is one necessarily from Mars? If the answer is “yes” then I have a new entry for my family’s Ancestry.com page.

 

[8893]

If this is the first time one has heard of “speck” is one necessarily from Mars? If the answer is “yes” then I have a new entry for my family’s Ancestry.com page.

Ha! Not at all. I don’t think I heard of it until we went to Italy almost ten years ago. Just like guanciale

I think it’s basically just smoked prosciutto.

I believe Bufalina is the only pizza place where I have seen it as a topping. Tarry Lodge in New Haven has one with guanciale (and shaved truffles and a fried egg—another amazing combo).

My wife found packages of speck the other day at one of our local stores and she bought a few to put out as charcuterie over the holidays.

 

[pepband99]

I believe Bufalina is the only pizza place where I have seen it as a topping. Tarry Lodge in New Haven has one with guanciale (and shaved truffles and a fried egg—another amazing combo).

Holy %^#$#$%^@@%#$ that sounds awesome

 

[8893]

Holy %^#$#$%^@@%#$ that sounds awesome

It's amazing. It's basically the best bacon and egg sandwich you've ever had--with black truffles.

I was there for lunch, by myself, the first time I went there, and I had to "try" that pizza.

Of course I ate the whole thing.

 

[87Xfer]

The Hot Tomato in Fruita, Colorado. Long drive for you deprived East Coast denizens, but worth it. Youthful vibe, popular with mountain bikers and other cyclists. Indoor and outdoor venues (in fact, during this pandemic, the adjacent street has been roped off to accommodate additional outdoor seating).

The civic-minded gals who own the place use some of their profits as seed money to help other businesses get started in this small town.

Hmmm, we'll check that out the next time we're there. Do you live in that area?

Quite surprisingly, there's a place here in Durango called Fired Up that is pretty darn good, even to a guy who worked in New Haven for years and frequented the "big 3".

Edit: I looked at the Hot Tomato website, and we actually ate there the last time we went to the Fruita Fat Tire Festival, probably 5 years ago.

 

[87Xfer]

I would say that speck is probably my single favorite topping that they offer. Although it goes well with and improves almost any pie imo, the best combination I can recall with it is their seasonal Fichi pie, with figs, gorgonzola dolce and speck.

My wife's best friend lives in Germany and whenever we visit them, I get flammkuchen with speck at every available opportunity. The husband of the couple has a similar thing when they come here. He says the beef in the US is just completely different, and when he's here, he'd eat a hamburger or steak for every meal if he could.

 

[Dove]

Went to Bradley and Wall in Madison late last week for sammiches. We added a small cheese pizza as a throw in. First time going there.

That cheeses pizza was excellent. Opened the box and smiled at the char. The crust was thin, too, so no way to undercook it. The mozz was a bit salty but man, what a Gateway pizza. Will be going back for larger pie this weekend.

 

[8893]

My wife's best friend lives in Germany and whenever we visit them, I get flammkuchen with speck at every available opportunity. The husband of the couple has a similar thing when they come here. He says the beef in the US is just completely different, and when he's here, he'd eat a hamburger or steak for every meal if he could.

Oh, now you've done it with mention of the flammenkuchen. I got turned on to that at Luke in New Orleans and have had on one every one of a half dozen visits or more since. They make theirs with Emmenthaler cheese, shaved truffles and Benton's bacon, which is the most powerful-tasting bacon I've ever had. I ordered a 4-pack of it from Benton's and it took me a while to go through it. One piece goes a looong way; incredible flavor though. They cube it and apply it sparingly.

As for the beef abroad, I did a semester in the Netherlands and lived on a floor in a Dutch dorm where I was the only foreigner. You have dinner groups there with three to four other people and one of you makes dinner for the others one night a week. When it was my turn I and I wanted to do things with ground beef, like hamburgers or meatballs, I would buy their steak tartare and use that instead because it was the only halfway decent beef I could find.

 

[8893]

Went to Bradley and Wall in Madison late last week for sammiches. We added a small cheese pizza as a throw in. First time going there.

That cheeses pizza was excellent. Opened the box and smiled at the char. The crust was thin, too, so no way to undercook it. The mozz was a bit salty but man, what a Gateway pizza. Will be going back for larger pie this weekend.

I really like their pizza sauce. I think they use Roma tomatoes; it is a little sweeter than most.

We get so much other stuff from them that we overlook their pizza. My kids love their sandwiches, and their grilled or cajun salmon, with some veggies, is a reliable standby for me when we have to call an audible for dinner.

 

[Balker]

It's amazing. It's basically the best bacon and egg sandwich you've ever had--with black truffles.

I was there for lunch, by myself, the first time I went there, and I had to "try" that pizza.

Of course I ate the whole thing.

I've been debating making a trip to Tarry Lodge to try the pizza. It photographs well. Sounds like it's pretty good? It's a bit out of the way, but if I'm not busy and the weather is nice it's a good walk that direction.

 

[Balker]

I really like their pizza sauce. I think they use Roma tomatoes; it is a little sweeter than most.

We get so much other stuff from them that we overlook their pizza. My kids love their sandwiches, and their grilled or cajun salmon, with some veggies, is a reliable standby for me when we have to call an audible for dinner.

The star of Bradley and Wall is absolutely their sandwiches. Really solid cutlets to form the base of many delicious sandwiches. I haven't had the pizza since 2005 or so, so I can't speak to it recently. I'll vouch for the sauce since that ends up covering my cutlets a good amount of the time. The pizza was always a bit better than standard fare back in the day. Nothing special, but solid.

 

[8893]

I've been debating making a trip to Tarry Lodge to try the pizza. It photographs well. Sounds like it's pretty good? It's a bit out of the way, but if I'm not busy and the weather is nice it's a good walk that direction.

It is very tasty, but more like Zeneli in style in that the crust is more soft and chewy than crispy/charred.

 

[87Xfer]

I've been debating making a trip to Tarry Lodge to try the pizza. It photographs well. Sounds like it's pretty good? It's a bit out of the way, but if I'm not busy and the weather is nice it's a good walk that direction.

Any relation to the Tarry Lodge in Port Chester, NY? I used to work in an office in the last building in Greenwich on W Putnam, and used to go to that place often.

 

[Balker]

Nice. I didn't know Elizabeth's had closed, or that Strega had closed. I only went to Strega once. We got one pizza, a couple apps, an entree and some wine. I remember that one of the apps was excellent and the wine selection was very decent; the entree was good; and the pie was good but poorly executed. Too many toppings and not firm enough crust, so it needed to be eaten with a fork and knife.

It's no secret that I think Bufalina is king of the wood fired pizza places, and I love 99% of the combinations they have on their regular, seasonal and special menus.

I would say that speck is probably my single favorite topping that they offer. Although it goes well with and improves almost any pie imo, the best combination I can recall with it is their seasonal Fichi pie, with figs, gorgonzola dolce and speck. We also like adding it to their pumpkin seed pesto pie. Can't remember which cheese(s) they use on that one.

I'll also give a pitch for our favorite combination from Modern, a red pie with mozz, eggplant and artichoke hearts. But it's gotta be relatively thin, crisp, breaded eggplant. Most places don't do eggplant well as a pizza topping in my experience; Modern is the best hands down. Grand Apizza and Amato's (Madison) also do a surprisingly good job with it.

Keep us posted on their opening. Looking forward to checking it out.

Good choices! My favorite combos from Bufalina over the years with photographs of the first two:
1. Roasted potatoes, whipped chive creme fraiche, mozz and bacon. Basically scalloped potato pizza is the result here.
2. Heirloom tomato sauce with stracciatella cheese and basil (basil oil in this case because of COVID). The sauce was incredible (sweet and fresh), paired great with the stracciatella. So simple, a nice twist on the classic marg.
3. Pere: pears, caramelized onion, mozz, gorganzola dolce, bacon. Pears are always winners.
4. Roasted bell pepper sauce with stracchino cheese and sausage. I've made this one myself at home after having it, love the flavors the bell peppers bring to the sauce. But still a simple pie.

 

[Balker]

Any relation to the Tarry Lodge in Port Chester, NY? I used to work in an office in the last building in Greenwich on W Putnam, and used to go to that place often.

Yeah I believe there were (are?) 3 or 4 locations. Westport and New Haven are definitely still open. I think Port Chester closed.