OT: Best Pizza in CT

[Waquoit]

I've heard Papa John speak extemporaneously twice in my life. The 1st time was in Birmingham where he said he was pulling for S. Carolina to beat UConn in a bowl game. The 2nd time was at the Final Four where he was rooting for Kentucky to beat UConn. Papa John, the man and the pizza.

 

[mauconnfan]

Never really liked the Berkshire's pizza but I love the place. Cool old building with the best homemade salad dressing, also used to get a bowl of chili and a hamburger grinder, good memories at that place. I always used to get my pizza from Anthony's in Torrington.

berkshire is a cool old place. Bartender still wears a tie sometime unless its the blonde. Neighborhood Cheers type place - Pat Murphy the fireman has his Guiness and Talarmore Dews. They wrap their pizza's to go like Verdolini's in Meriden did, cardboard bottom and wax paper stapled all around. Their pizza is not quite as good now as it was 10-20 years ago but still has pizzazz!

 

[Gurleyman]

When people are posting here about the best chain pizza I think it's time to let this thread die. Blasphemy to even have the word Domino's in this thread.

Give it a page or two - topic will shift.

For example, say you are at Pepe's with a few people and order two pizzas - and decide to go for a white clam and a cheese. Can each person so back and forth between the two pizzas, or once you bite into the white clam and get the garlic in your mouth, does that mean the cheese won't taste right any more? Should you then make sure one or two people in the group are just white clam specialists?

People need to have a strategy for these things.

 

[Deepster]

berkshire is a cool old place. Bartender still wears a tie sometime unless its the blonde. Neighborhood Cheers type place - Pat Murphy the fireman has his Guiness and Talarmore Dews. They wrap their pizza's to go like Verdolini's in Meriden did, cardboard bottom and wax paper stapled all around. Their pizza is not quite as good now as it was 10-20 years ago but still has pizzazz!

Like they would wrap The Spooker?

 

[Chin Diesel]

Whenever someone asks me where to get a good slice in NYC I send them to Times Square Sbarro's

Two years ago my sister and my wife took our kids to NYC for the day. Of all the stuff they raved about in NYC? You got it. Sbarro's Times Square.

 

[CTBasketball]

Give it a page or two - topic will shift.

For example, say you are at Pepe's with a few people and order two pizzas - and decide to go for a white clam and a cheese. Can each person so back and forth between the two pizzas, or once you bite into the white clam and get the garlic in your mouth, does that mean the cheese won't taste right any more? Should you then make sure one or two people in the group are just white clam specialists?

People need to have a strategy for these things.

This is an excellent post. In my opinion, you always go for the cheese first. It sets the meal straight. In addition, if a place has a good cheese pie then usually the rest are pretty good.

 

[mauconnfan]

Like they would wrap The Spooker?

I somehow knew something was coming just couldn't predict the details.

 

[jleves]

So here's a scenario that actually happened to me last year when I went to my bro-in-law's graduation in PA and after a gig in Newport last year. It is late, you want pizza, but the only place that delivers is a chain place. What is your fave of the chains (Domino's, Pizza Hut, Papa John's, etc.)? We went with Domino's b/c they were willing both times to deliver to the hotel and as usual, it was pretty hideous. My fave of the chains is Papa Gino's which I believe is still holding on in CT. There was one in New London I went to all the time as a kid. We also used to do the Pizza Hut buffet too when I was in high school and my stomach could handle 1o pieces of pizza in one sitting.

Apparently Domino's has spent a lot of time and effort to upgrade their pizza and it's probably on par with Pizza Hut now. Out here in the L.A. area, while our good local pizza pales in comparison to even regular local spots in CT., we have a couple of chains better than the nationwide chains. In particular, Big Mama's and Papa's can be quite good - several levels above Domino's or Pizza Hut and Round Table pizza at certain locations is even better than Big Mama's.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Out here in the L.A. area, while our good local pizza pales in comparison to even regular local spots in CT.,

Tons of great pizza in LA on par with anything anywhere. Where are you, specifically?

 

[jleves]

Tons of great pizza in LA on par with anything anywhere. Where are you, specifically?

If you're talking fufu hipster places, yes there are many - not what I call great pizza. I did find a place in the last month that has almost CT quality pizza - Bollini's in Monterey Park. Mesa in Echo Park has some pretty solid Chicago style pizza - but again, not what I consider high quality East Coast pizza. I work in Downtown L.A. across the street from the Music Center. I live in Tujunga with easy access to 'The Valley.'

 

[dbmill]

So here's a scenario that actually happened to me last year when I went to my bro-in-law's graduation in PA and after a gig in Newport last year. It is late, you want pizza, but the only place that delivers is a chain place. What is your fave of the chains (Domino's, Pizza Hut, Papa John's, etc.)? We went with Domino's b/c they were willing both times to deliver to the hotel and as usual, it was pretty hideous. My fave of the chains is Papa Gino's which I believe is still holding on in CT. There was one in New London I went to all the time as a kid. We also used to do the Pizza Hut buffet too when I was in high school and my stomach could handle 1o pieces of pizza in one sitting.

Papa Gino's wasn't bad, but I haven't had their pizza in years. Their stores have been long closed in both Mansfield (Eastbrook Mall) and Norwich.

Many years ago when they first came to town, I would listen to Norwich Navigators radio broadcasts. During the game they would have a trivia contest. The first year or two, the prize was free tickets to future games. I went to a number of games this way, winning the contest. The next year, the trivia contest prize became a coupon for a free Pizza Hut pizza. The first time I cashed in the coupon, I thought the pizza was nothing great but at at least it was edible. The second time I won, my mind change, as it had to be the most lead heavy, sink deep into your stomach pizza I ever had. Absolutely awful stuff. I never tried to win that trivia contest again.

 

[8893]

News from Bufalina:

Effective June 15, 2015 Bufalina will be serving beer and wine.

Customers are welcome to continue to BYOB with a $2.50 corkage fee per customer

Kind of a bummer imo. Reasonable corkage, but I like the simplicity of just selling pizza and leaving the booze to us.

 

[Robertelamin]

Papa Gino's wasn't bad, but I haven't had their pizza in years. Their stores have been long closed in both Mansfield (Eastbrook Mall) and Norwich.

Many years ago when they first came to town, I would listen to Norwich Navigators radio broadcasts. During the game they would have a trivia contest. The first year or two, the prize was free tickets to future games. I went to a number of games this way, winning the contest. The next year, the trivia contest prize became a coupon for a free Pizza Hut pizza. The first time I cashed in the coupon, I thought the pizza was nothing great but at at least it was edible. The second time I won, my mind change, as it had to be the most lead heavy, sink deep into your stomach pizza I ever had. Absolutely awful stuff. I never tried to win that trivia contest again.

I used to work at the Papa Ginos in the Student Union occasionally. It was pretty much putting sauce and cheese on an english muffin and toasting it. The only Papa Ginos that I'm aware of is in Windsor Locks next to Bradley.

 

[dbmill]

I used to work at the Papa Ginos in the Student Union occasionally. It was pretty much putting sauce and cheese on an english muffin and toasting it. The only Papa Ginos that I'm aware of is in Windsor Locks next to Bradley.

It's probably been a good 15 years since Papa Gino's was at the Eastbrook Mall.

 

[Mazhude]

The most interesting trend to come out of this larger "Best Pizza in America" conversation is the acknowledgement that yes, there is a New Haven style of pizza and yes, it is very, very good. In my travels, I'm starting to see more and more places outside of CT advertise that they make New Haven style pizza. For example, Piece Pizza in Chicago, Pete's Apizza in the DC area (3 stores now!), Salvation Pizza in Austin, etc... In fact, Wikipedia lists New Haven-style pizza places in Hood River, Oregon; San Diego, California; West Chester, Pennsylvania; Key West, Florida; Farmington Hills, Michigan; and even Tokyo, Japan. And I'm sure there are more I'm missing...

 

[Deepster]

News from Bufalina:


Kind of a bummer imo. Reasonable corkage, but I like the simplicity of just selling pizza and leaving the booze to us.

I'm sure they like taking a bottle of wine they paid 7.00 for and charging you 19.00 though.

 

[CTBasketball]

Anyone ever have Joe's Pizza in Westport? Had it for the first time last night and it reminded me of a low-grade Little Rendezvous. It was good though, my buddy got a Hawaiian pie and I got a mix of onion and peppers/pepperoni. It wasn't bad to be honest, really doughy though not much apizza-ish.

 

[August_West]

Anyone ever have Joe's Pizza in Westport? Had it for the first time last night and it reminded me of a low-grade Little Rendezvous. It was good though, my buddy got a Hawaiian pie and I got a mix of onion and peppers/pepperoni. It wasn't bad to be honest, really doughy though not much apizza-ish.

Hawaiian?
You need a new buddy.

 

[Huskybass]

Papa Gino's wasn't bad, but I haven't had their pizza in years. Their stores have been long closed in both Mansfield (Eastbrook Mall) and Norwich.

Many years ago when they first came to town, I would listen to Norwich Navigators radio broadcasts. During the game they would have a trivia contest. The first year or two, the prize was free tickets to future games. I went to a number of games this way, winning the contest. The next year, the trivia contest prize became a coupon for a free Pizza Hut pizza. The first time I cashed in the coupon, I thought the pizza was nothing great but at at least it was edible. The second time I won, my mind change, as it had to be the most lead heavy, sink deep into your stomach pizza I ever had. Absolutely awful stuff. I never tried to win that trivia contest again.

I'm pretty sure that Papa Gino's is still open at the East Brook Mall. Not sure why it was mentioned in a best pizza thread though.

 

[nomar]

 

[8893]

Gotta say, I honestly did not see that coming. Just when you think you've seen everything.

Holy crap.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

I'm sure they like taking a bottle of wine they paid 7.00 for and charging you 19.00 though.

You think restaurants make money on food? If not for booze or wine they'd all go broke, not just 90% of them.

 

[Huskybass]

As if Pizza Hut wasn't bad enough already...

 

[Gurleyman]

Need to improve our photos in this thread.

 

[Gurleyman]

That oughta do it.