OT: Best Pizza in CT

[karstenkibbe]

Would love to but based in Danbury for a wedding, NH not on itinerary. Only went to Stamford for family.

That said, if I find myself near a Colony in next 48 hrs...

Having eaten at the Sally’s in Stamford numerous times, I would say you’re spot on. I describe it as “an enjoyable take” on Sally’s Wooster Street. It’s not the same. It’s better than the satellite Pepe’s locations compare to the original. Which is why I’m not that jazzed about Pepe’s Stamford opening this fall. The pie that comes closest at Stamford Sally’s is the plain sauce pie. It is excellent. Still, when Mario the Baker is having a good night, or even Belltown Pizza, I’d rather have their rendition of a New York slice.

I do suggest that if you head back through Stamford on your way home, instead of taking 84 west into NY state, they you stop on Myrtle Ave. It really is the same Colony of the 70s. Same great bar pie - an admittedly acquired taste.

 

[karstenkibbe]

so, a hokey, invalid poll, where n=398, proclaims
'these are Connecticut's underrated pizzas!'
sure. not.
iffn it ain't, at least, n=1056, im not even looking at it, the little that i ever do look at 'polls.'
polls, meh.
eggplant? old school -Fortuna's Conquering Hero, Bridgeport Connecticut. everybuddy in the Park City has an eggplant parm thing on the menu. u ever been out there in America? it's an eggplant dessert. i think that somewhere between Ct, Rhody, and SE Mass is the eggplant parm holyland.
shoprite's frozen entry at $6.95 for a large amount is righteous, too, but u got to bend down to find it at the bottom of the freezer box.
don't hurt ur back.

I think you’re in the ballpark geographically. I’ve been to many, many cities across the U.S. thanks to my occupation. I have never had even decent eggplant parmigiana between Scranton, PA and the Pacific Ocean.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Having eaten at the Sally’s in Stamford numerous times, I would say you’re spot on. I describe it as “an enjoyable take” on Sally’s Wooster Street. It’s not the same. It’s better than the satellite Pepe’s locations compare to the original. Which is why I’m not that jazzed about Pepe’s Stamford opening this fall. The pie that comes closest at Stamford Sally’s is the plain sauce pie. It is excellent. Still, when Mario the Baker is having a good night, or even Belltown Pizza, I’d rather have their rendition of a New York slice.

I do suggest that if you head back through Stamford on your way home, instead of taking 84 west into NY state, they you stop on Myrtle Ave. It really is the same Colony of the 70s. Same great bar pie - an admittedly acquired taste.

So much good pizza in Stamford.

Mario the Baker was my favorite as a kid and when I was in my early 20s, my older sister had a house right off High Ridge, just south of Mario. Whenever I dog sat, I would get a small meatball pie and a quart of pasta fagioli and just eat my way to bliss, passing out on the couch...sounds miserable now, but it was a great way to spend my early 20s as a refuge away from my mom's house while I was paying off my college loans.

 

[superjohn]

Yum. How do they prep the eggplant? I am a sucker for a great eggplant parm grinder, but find that many places in CT cut their eggplant slices too thickly or they don’t bread them - turning the grinder into a sloppy mess (exhibit A: Liuzzi in North Haven). My favorite eggplant parm grinder is at La Bellezza on 49th-Lex/3rd. Nothing in CT comes close. But I’m still on the hunt.

I love chicken parm, eggplant parm, and veal parm grinders but my I think my favorite for eggplant is breaded and lightly fried thin sliced eggplant, artichoke, roasted red peppers, fresh mozzarella with balsamic vinegar and oil on a bastone. Sometimes add a couple slices of prosciutto. Used to make this for myself at a deli back in the day and it's killer.

 

[superjohn]

I think you’re in the ballpark geographically. I’ve been to many, many cities across the U.S. thanks to my occupation. I have never had even decent eggplant parmigiana between Scranton, PA and the Pacific Ocean.

You can get a solid eggplant parm sammie in Chicago but it seems to pretty much be a veal parm wasteland. I hardly ever see veal on any Italian menus out here. I would put the Chicago breaded steak sandwich up against any parm sandwiches anywhere though.

 

[karstenkibbe]

You can get a solid eggplant parm sammie in Chicago but it seems to pretty much be a veal parm wasteland. I hardly ever see veal on any Italian menus out here. I would put the Chicago breaded steak sandwich up against any parm sandwiches anywhere though.

I need to give Chicago another chance. I lived there in 95-96, a year of an epically harsh winter and an historically hot summer that killed hundreds of elderly Chicagoans. I lucked into an awesome high rise sublet on Lake Shore & Diversey across from the golf range. But I wasn’t prepared for the pizza scene of the mid-90s. Deep dish pizza that gave my Ashkenazi Jewish stomach gastro nightmares, St. Louis style mini squares with weird cheese was scary. There was a place around the 2600 block of Clark that was a decent take on a NY slice. I know the pizza scene has changed dramatically for the better since then. But on my dozens of trips back to Chicago in the last 25 years, I never tried pizza (or subs). I probably should.

 

[superjohn]

I need to give Chicago another chance. I lived there in 95-96, a year of an epically harsh winter and an historically hot summer that killed hundreds of elderly Chicagoans. I lucked into an awesome high rise sublet on Lake Shore & Diversey across from the golf range. But I wasn’t prepared for the pizza scene of the mid-90s. Deep dish pizza that gave my Ashkenazi Jewish stomach gastro nightmares, St. Louis style mini squares with weird cheese was scary. There was a place around the 2600 block of Clark that was a decent take on a NY slice. I know the pizza scene has changed dramatically for the better since then. But on my dozens of trips back to Chicago in the last 25 years, I never tried pizza (or subs). I probably should.

There's a couple places that do thin crust well but honestly just a couple, at least for me. I really don't like the Chicago thin crust style (cracker thin) you explained it well. Most Chicagoans claim that's the real Chicago pizza. I've actually grown to really like deep dish. I hardly ever have it but really enjoy it when I do....

As for sandwiches CT. does Italian grinders better, NYC does Jewish delis better, and Philly is the sandwich capital but the breaded steak sandwich and the Italian beef are great sandwiches.

Man, you picked the worst time to live out here. That summer heat wave is a major national tragedy not many outside this area seem to know about.

 

[storrsroars]

I do suggest that if you head back through Stamford on your way home, instead of taking 84 west into NY state, they you stop on Myrtle Ave. It really is the same Colony of the 70s. Same great bar pie - an admittedly acquired taste.

The salt in the wound from yesterday was that my wife - who ridicules Colony as "Easy Bake Oven Chef Boyardee pizza" - was willing to go to Colony for my sake. But I insisted I had to try Sally's.

Another trip to Stamford is out. But I saw they had a Port Chester location, which was an outside possibility if I dropped down 684 and they had a "breakfast pizza", so I thought maybe they'd be open early. Nope, still 11:30a, too late for us as we'll be on the road early.

Anyway, downtown looks great these days. But damn, driving up Hope St. through Glenbrook & Springdale... lots of new businesses but such gaudy signage, and it seems tons of trees were removed, making the whole ride look like the main drag in East Newark. Lost any New England charm it used to have.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

had a gf sumtime back. centuries of southern Italy heritage, family name came from a town there. not from around these parts, she quickly noticed that 'Italian' food was off the charts good as she got exposed a bit to The Park City, and she absolutely adored great gramms (she of that Ungarische-Carpo-Ukraine dump) eggparm. mebbe it was the matzoh meal in the coating?
she liked to say aboot her college prof mom's cooking, heavily biased to the family dishes (iifn there was a cloud in the sky, she instantly put on some pasta e fagiole), 'it stinks.'
so we're eating at her folks place one day, and her moms puts out the eggparm.
i was like, under my breath, 'swiss cheese? swiss cheese in it?' say what?
unacceptable. weird. yuk.
lesson? ya don't have to be that ethnic, to make great ethnic food. and iffn u are that ethnic, doesn't mean you can make that ethnics food well.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

hehe 'gf.' nice person.
'she was a new beagle, but she warn't no dog'

ok, now that's funny. i don't care who u are, that's just plain funny right there.
and local beagles, u can steal it. u would anyway... lol, all around.

 

[Mazhude]

There's a couple places that do thin crust well but honestly just a couple, at least for me. I really don't like the Chicago thin crust style (cracker thin) you explained it well. Most Chicagoans claim that's the real Chicago pizza. I've actually grown to really like deep dish. I hardly ever have it but really enjoy it when I do....

As for sandwiches CT. does Italian grinders better, NYC does Jewish delis better, and Philly is the sandwich capital but the breaded steak sandwich and the Italian beef are great sandwiches.

Man, you picked the worst time to live out here. That summer heat wave is a major national tragedy not many outside this area seem to know about.

Piece is a great New Haven style place in the Windy City, run by a family from New Haven. The kids were friends with the Consiglios in Wooster Square, back in the day.

 

[Mazhude]

Pepe's is set to open Monday, July 18 in Alexandria, VA

Finally! It's about a mile from Chez Mazhude... and they deliver!

 

[HooperScooper]

Pepe's is set to open Monday, July 18 in Alexandria, VA

Finally! It's about a mile from Chez Mazhude... and they deliver!

I keep wondering when they're going to come closer to my house in suburban Boston. Chestnut Hill, Watertown and Burlington are too far from my house to get takeout (although we do go and eat there). I actually asked a few years ago and they said they were looking but hadn't found a spot that appealed to them.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Piece is a great New Haven style place in the Windy City, run by a family from New Haven. The kids were friends with the Consiglios in Wooster Square, back in the day.

I think this is the place that was on "Pizza, a Love Story" if it was, Rick Nielsen from Cheap Trick was a major investor.

 

[storrsroars]

Pepe's is set to open Monday, July 18 in Alexandria, VA

Finally! It's about a mile from Chez Mazhude... and they deliver!

I would think Pepe's value once driven off the property sinks quicker than a new car.

 

[superjohn]

Piece is a great New Haven style place in the Windy City, run by a family from New Haven. The kids were friends with the Consiglios in Wooster Square, back in the day.

Yep, that's one of the thin crust places that's good. It's good but not great like the places in New Haven. The other thin crust pizza place I like a little more is Craft Pizza, it's only a half mile down the road from Piece on Damen Ave.

 

[superjohn]

I think this is the place that was on "Pizza, a Love Story" if it was, Rick Nielsen from Cheap Trick was a major investor.

Yep, Rick Nielsen and Bill Jacobs (from New Haven) own it.

 

[8893]

I would think Pepe's value once driven off the property sinks quicker than a new car.

Order “undercooked, uncut” and then finish off on pre-heated pizza pan in your own oven at 450 for five minutes.

 

[Deepster]

Order “undercooked, uncut” and then finish off on pre-heated pizza pan in your own oven at 450 for five minutes.

Pro tips.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Pepe's is set to open Monday, July 18 in Alexandria, VA

Finally! It's about a mile from Chez Mazhude... and they deliver!

Figures. I'll be in that area next week. A bit too soon.

 

[husky99]

Spending a few hours in Southport ct tomorrow. Any good pizza close

 

[karstenkibbe]

Spending a few hours in Southport ct tomorrow. Any good pizza close

Depends how you define good and your pizza style preference. You’ll be five minutes away from the Fairfield outposts of Colony Grill and Frank Pepe. Neither are the same as the original, but if you enjoy a bar pie, Colony comes closer to its flagship spot.

 

[storrsroars]

Depends how you define good and your pizza style preference. You’ll be five minutes away from the Fairfield outposts of Colony Grill and Frank Pepe. Neither are the same as the original, but if you enjoy a bar pie, Colony comes closer to its flagship spot.

Haven't been in that area in awhile, but used to like Julian's in Westport and Quattro Pazzi in Fairfield, both wood-fired ovens. Never been to Brewport, but their pizzas look a lot like Sally's.

 

[karstenkibbe]

Haven't been in that area in awhile, but used to like Julian's in Westport and Quattro Pazzi in Fairfield, both wood-fired ovens. Never been to Brewport, but their pizzas look a lot like Sally's.

Brewport makes a solid pizza. Love their root beer float. My waist line doesn’t, however.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

whelp, the post, and poster, i am responding to is once again poofed when i sign in. i guess that one has the mads for me. whatever.
iffn that guy meant julians brick oven down on riverside in Westport, i used to sell them the wood for their oven, and the julian brick oven in Monroe as well. they were sticklers for only white oak, and nothing else. nice folks, and since we'd drop Monroe first, when we hit Westport they'd always have a nice big one ready when we came. freebie. often, when i'd tell the boys 'im riding shotgun today' they'd say 'we're going to Westport?'
after the umpteenth time nighmare from crossing the Q bridge, or the other holdups going that way, i woke up one day and said 'screw that delivery program down there. that's over.'
way too many times the gang would come back from a trip there, hours after quitting time. they have lives beyond work too, and don't need to be finally getting to their home at 7,8, or 9 o'clock at night. even for money.
i don't know if those julians are in business today.
on this pizza reheat thing (pizza reviews really should have a 'how does it do the next day?' category. pepe's, and many others fail on that one.), we just grab that honkin big fry pan, put it on the stove, toss in the slabs, add a hat, and walk away for a few minutes. if so motivated, u can add a bit of oil and sprinkle in some corn meal before the slices go in.
ezpz, and consistently tasty.
we used to deliver as far as Stamford. now, it's strictly this side of the bridge. the whole wood supply thing for restaurants is a weird dynamic, usually just starting with a restaurant having a bunch of bcards, and scraps of paper with phone numbers, tacked onto a noteboard. u think everybuddy has all that entered into their phone? guess again. kind of like that hokum aboot digital medical records.