OT: Best Pizza in CT

[mauconnfan]

Check out Mercato -- Canton/Avon line ..Valley Shoppes.. Rt 44.. Not a classic pizza joint but Italian cuisine.. Pretty cool place for cocktails if you get there before 4PM.. Have a Cesena wood fire stove custom built but haven't tried the pies yet.. Reservations recommended if with your lady friend.. Visuals are pretty good ..If you know what I mean..

Ok I get it with a lady friend I appreciate that but would you recommend reservations if with your wife?

 

[Umami Zen]

Ok I get it with a lady friend I appreciate that but would you recommend reservations if with your wife?

My bad.. Of course.. As I will do/would do.. Just get the vibe that @husky99 is a younger dude and yet still a Renaissance man..

 

[HooperScooper]

Tried to get Little Rendezvous while dropping something off to my family in Meriden this weekend but the wait was 1:45 and I needed to be home in about that amount of time. So instead drove 15 minutes to Mondo in Middletown was ready in 25. It's a solid thin pie with good sauce but not enough. Will ask for extra sauce when and if I go there again.

My nephew ordered from Little Rendezvous a week after Portnoy visited. Put the order in at 4:00 and they said it won't be ready until 8:00. I guess I'll wait a few months before going.

 

[ColchVEGAS]

Tried to get Little Rendezvous while dropping something off to my family in Meriden this weekend but the wait was 1:45 and I needed to be home in about that amount of time. So instead drove 15 minutes to Mondo in Middletown was ready in 25. It's a solid thin pie with good sauce but not enough. Will ask for extra sauce when and if I go there again.

I tried stopping in a couple days after Portnoy did his review and it was over an hour wait at 1PM when I was in the area. That and cash only. Now I know for next time I am working down there to call it in and bring cash.

 

[huskymedic]

2023 Pizzeria of the Year: Modern Apizza, New Haven, Connecticut - Pizza Today

2023 Pizzeria of the Year Modern Apizza, New Haven Connecticut by Pizza Today. New Haven Style pizza place no. 1 pizzeria in U.S. Modern's place in pizza history.

pizzatoday.com

 

[Huskybass]

My nephew ordered from Little Rendezvous a week after Portnoy visited. Put the order in at 4:00 and they said it won't be ready until 8:00. I guess I'll wait a few months before going.

Honestly, it's not even that good. So many better options within 20 miles of there.

 

[karstenkibbe]

Stopped at Fuoco after taking my daughter and her friend to Lake Compounce today. The girls wanted half onion/half mushroom, and I was relieved to see they weren’t heavy handed with the toppings. It was a solid pie, but it had major flop for a pie that wasn’t boxed. Wasn’t as tight in the middle. A bit soupy. Edges were nice. Cheese was flavorful. Sauce had zero flavor. A pinch of salt would have gone a long way to season that sauce.

 

[superjohn]

Stopped at Fuoco after taking my daughter and her friend to Lake Compounce today. The girls wanted half onion/half mushroom, and I was relieved to see they weren’t heavy handed with the toppings. It was a solid pie, but it had major flop for a pie that wasn’t boxed. Wasn’t as tight in the middle. A bit soupy. Edges were nice. Cheese was flavorful. Sauce had zero flavor. A pinch of salt would have gone a long way to season that sauce.

View attachment 90276

Weird, that wasn't my experience at all. Zero flop.

 

[ColchVEGAS]

Weird, that wasn't my experience at all. Zero flop.

Was just about to say this. I had just a cheese and it was very nicely charred and crisp throughout. I am wondering if the mushrooms and onions releasing some of their liquid had anything to do with it.

 

[willie99]

Pepe's New Haven last night, simply the best

I think I can eat their white fresh clam pizza everyday

 

[karstenkibbe]

Was just about to say this. I had just a cheese and it was very nicely charred and crisp throughout. I am wondering if the mushrooms and onions releasing some of their liquid had anything to do with it.

Don’t think that was the case. Mushrooms appeared to be pre-sautéed, which I always appreciate. Couple at the next table was ambitious with a loaded veg and another pie with multiple toppings. I watched them pick up slices. Their pies appeared to have zero flop. Undercarriage on ours was nicely spotted. I didn’t ask for a medium or light bake. I’d definitely give it another try, but the pie was similar to my Sally’s Stamford experiences. Good, not great.

 

[Dove]

@karstenkibbe , nice manicure.

 

[karstenkibbe]

@karstenkibbe , nice manicure.

@Dove you know I need those nice nails for the beer can-holding vanity shots in my Instagram stories!

 

[Dove]

@Dove you know I need those nice nails for the beer can-holding vanity shots in my Instagram stories!

Cheers!! At 12% now drinkin' Timber Ales.

 

[dvegas]

Emmy Squared out of Brooklyn is soft opening this weekend in Westport, Bedford Square (the old YMCA at the intersection of Post Road East, Main Street & Church Lane). Its supposed to be famous for Detroit style and their burger, but at a $30 price point I'm a healthy sceptic, although I'm sure the scenesters in Whiteport will be all in

 

[Ratso]

looks like CT is well represented.

Dave Portnoy's One Bite Pizza Festival

Dave Portnoy’s One Bite Pizza Festival Returns — featuring the greatest gathering of pizzerias ever on Saturday, September 13, 2025, at Randall’s Island Park in New York City! Grab your All-You-Can-Eat Pizza Tickets and experience 40+ of Dave’s favorite pizzerias from across the country!

onebitepizzafest.com

 

[storrsroars]

looks like CT is well represented.

Dave Portnoy's One Bite Pizza Festival

Dave Portnoy’s One Bite Pizza Festival Returns — featuring the greatest gathering of pizzerias ever on Saturday, September 13, 2025, at Randall’s Island Park in New York City! Grab your All-You-Can-Eat Pizza Tickets and experience 40+ of Dave’s favorite pizzerias from across the country!

onebitepizzafest.com

What's he going to do, order a bunch of pizzas and reheat 'em?

Surprised old man Santillo and Dom DiFara agreed to be part of this.

 

[Ratso]

What's he going to do, order a bunch of pizzas and reheat 'em?

Surprised old man Santillo and Dom DiFara agreed to be part of this.

i don’t get how the fancy ovens get to coney island.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

What's he going to do, order a bunch of pizzas and reheat 'em?

Surprised old man Santillo and Dom DiFara agreed to be part of this.

Dom can't be bothered to protest involvements like this these days.

 

[storrsroars]

Dom can't be bothered to protest involvements like this these days.

I do recall that now that you mention it.

Wouldn't surprise me if in his will he requested to be made into sausage so he'd still be involved in making pies.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

I do recall that now that you mention it.

Wouldn't surprise me if in his will he requested to be made into sausage so he'd still be involved in making pies.

I was reading an article about the best new pizza places in LA recently and there is a place purporting to sell "Pittsburgh-style pizza." How would you describe it?

 

[storrsroars]

I was reading an article about the best new pizza places in LA recently and there is a place purporting to sell "Pittsburgh-style pizza." How would you describe it?

Ick. The typical Pittsburgh pizza is a provoline/mozz blend atop a sweet sauce and a usually undercooked medium thick crust, no char. Cheese is the thing here, sauce is second, and few places make a decent crust. It's not good.

I'm wondering if they mean "Ohio Valley Style" which is that ludicrous Grandma-style pie which is baked with just sauce and maybe some parm/romano mixed in, then cold toppings are added, supposedly to melt into the pizza. IMO, it's an abomination, but it's got a number of places offering the thing out in the Pittsburgh/Youngstown/Stubenville triangle.

Or maybe they put french fries on top.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Ick. The typical Pittsburgh pizza is a provoline/mozz blend atop a sweet sauce and a usually undercooked medium thick crust, no char. Cheese is the thing here, sauce is second, and few places make a decent crust. It's not good.

I'm wondering if they mean "Ohio Valley Style" which is that ludicrous Grandma-style pie which is baked with just sauce and maybe some parm/romano mixed in, then cold toppings are added, supposedly to melt into the pizza. IMO, it's an abomination, but it's got a number of places offering the thing out in the Pittsburgh/Youngstown/Stubenville triangle.

Or maybe they put french fries on top.

Yeah I don't know what this place is going for then because it seems like none of those things.

Gorilla Pies | Best Pizza in Valley Village | Chef Ben Osher

GORILLA PIES are the dough babies born from the mind of Chef Benjamin Osher. We’re a Pittsburgh-style pizzeria with a California soul.

gorillapies.com

Edit: Upon further inspection, maybe it's the mozzarella/provolone blend.

 

[husky429]

My relatives in NC just argued over whether Publix or Pizza Hut has the best pizza in town. They consider Little Ceasar's edible. I nearly vomitted.

 

[storrsroars]

Yeah I don't know what this place is going for then because it seems like none of those things.

Gorilla Pies | Best Pizza in Valley Village | Chef Ben Osher

GORILLA PIES are the dough babies born from the mind of Chef Benjamin Osher. We’re a Pittsburgh-style pizzeria with a California soul.

gorillapies.com

Edit: Upon further inspection, maybe it's the mozzarella/provolone blend.

Looking at the photos (and the cheese seems yellow?) those look nothing like anything served around here that's not a brick oven. Mozz/provolone blend is all over the Rust Belt/Midwest, not just Pittsburgh. The chef isn't even from here. No idea why they'd market their pizzas like that.

I know it's LA, but $19 for a meatball sub? Sheesh.