What Conn. IS richest in

[bags27]

all this talk of budget cuts, and no one's extolling CT's greatest natural resource. Pepe, Modern, Sally's, etc, etc.

 

[Bigboote]

I think Connecticut has the best pizza in the nation. My hometown of 8000 had a few Greek pizza joints, a few Italian, a couple New York, a Sicilian, just off the top of my head. Part of the culture shock of moving to the South was the dearth of pizza -- when Domino's was considered adequate and Pizza Hut was the best in a small city, I was absolutely blown away.

 

[JustinesGuy]

Pepe's really is the best pizza but.... modern in new haven may be the most consistent pizza. IMHO.

 

[Goodgood]

It is tough to beat New Jersey. any pizza joint in Jersey can deliver the most awesome pizza to die for. That is all I ate during my one week stay there. The worst place was still better than the best place in Virginia. Places like Pizza Hut and Domino Pizza don't survive in New Jersey. But they are everywhere in the DC area...

 

[bags27]

It is tough to beat New Jersey. any pizza joint in Jersey can deliver the most awesome pizza to die for. That is all I ate during my one week stay there. The worst place was still better than the best place in Virginia. Places like Pizza Hut and Domino Pizza don't survive in New Jersey. But they are everywhere in the DC area...

I love CT pizza, but decades ago I was taken to a place in Trenton to have a white pizza swimming in oil and pieces of garlic. Unbelievable.
Chicago deep dish, California thin, or East Coast chewy....I proudly wear it all around my midriff...

 

[DefenseBB]

My brother moved to Tucson and when he used to come back, he would buy 4 pies from Pepe's (including the clam pie) and put them in zip lock bags to take them back with him! At first he shared the pies but then realized he was giving "Fine French Wine" to heathens who didn't understand the difference as AZ pizza was what they knew.

What is the proverb- "forgive them Lord, they know not of what they are eating". I may have change the wording but you get the gist...

 

[Geew1992]

Zuppardis is west haven has some really good pizza. And they will ship it to you

 

[JustinesGuy]

My brother moved to Tucson and when he used to come back, he would buy 4 pies from Pepe's (including the clam pie) and put them in zip lock bags to take them back with him! At first he shared the pies but then realized he was giving "Fine French Wine" to heathens who didn't understand the difference as AZ pizza was what they knew.

What is the proverb- "forgive them Lord, they know not of what they are eating". I may have change the wording but you get the gist...

You gotta love the clam pie.

 

[triaddukefan]

I have seen people on the BY talk about the merits of Connecticut pizza for years...... but yet no one has offered to Fedex me one yet

I think Connecticut has the best pizza in the nation. My hometown of 8000 had a few Greek pizza joints, a few Italian, a couple New York, a Sicilian, just off the top of my head. Part of the culture shock of moving to the South was the dearth of pizza -- when Domino's was considered adequate and Pizza Hut was the best in a small city, I was absolutely blown away.

We have pizza beyond Dominos and Pizza Hut.... what part of the South are you?

 

[willtalk]

My brother in law gave me some really good advice once. " If you have never experienced anything really good - you will never miss it" It's all about what you compare it too. I remember in the fifties when they opened their first Pizza parlors in our town. They opened one up across the street from my house. Well it served probably the crappiest pizza you could possibly imagine ( far worse than todays microwave type ) but since I never had anything better to me it was wonderful. It actually became my standard for good pizza for a while. My siblings who were older and had access to better pizza tried to tell me how bad it was but I wouldn't be convinced. In retrospect I now actually how bad it actually was, but at the time I didn't know any better. In some ways that was good because I was happy with what I had access too. Quality and satisfaction is only relative. That's why those people in the south believe they are eating great pizza.

 

[triaddukefan]

My brother in law gave me some really good advice once. " If you have never experienced anything really good - you will never miss it" It's all about what you compare it too. I remember in the fifties when they opened their first Pizza parlors in our town. They opened one up across the street from my house. Well it served probably the crappiest pizza you could possibly imagine ( far worse than todays microwave type ) but since I never had anything better to me it was wonderful. It actually became my standard for good pizza for a while. My siblings who were older and had access to better pizza tried to tell me how bad it was but I wouldn't be convinced. In retrospect I now actually how bad it actually was, but at the time I didn't know any better. In some ways that was good because I was happy with what I had access too. Quality and satisfaction is only relative. That's why those people in the south believe they are eating great pizza.

Uh...... not every pizza place in the south is owned and operated by people born and raised in the south

 

[uconnfan68]

Uh. not every pizza place in the south is owned and operated by people born and raised in the south

It's the ingredients. The water is different, the bread becomes different. I've never had New Haven pizza either, and I've in CT for about 55 years. However, my wife's homemade pizza is pretty good.

 

[DefenseBB]

I have seen people on the BY talk about the merits of Connecticut pizza for years. but yet no one has offered to Fedex me one yet

Umm, (note the pun that in a second) I smell a potential trade coming on...Pepe's bacon pizza for NC BBQ???

 

[DefenseBB]

It's the ingredients. The water is different, the bread becomes different. I've never had New Haven pizza either, and I've in CT for about 55 years. However, my wife's homemade pizza is pretty good.

You are correct and at the same time have an issue- yes the water is what affects the dough and I saw a Food channel episode where a guy in California imported the water from the NY aqueduct system for his pizza dough. Now, seriously, make a trip to Wooster Street and you have two GREAT PLACES-Pepe's and Sally's plus a couple of great Italian places to eat. My mouth is now salivating like Pavlov's dog, and the only way to stop the bell from Ringing is to leave this thread...

 

[cbraarj]

You are correct and at the same time have an issue- yes the water is what affects the dough and I saw a Food channel episode where a guy in California imported the water from the NY aqueduct system for his pizza dough. Now, seriously, make a trip to Wooster Street and you have two GREAT PLACES-Pepe's and Sally's plus a couple of great Italian places to eat. My mouth is now salivating like Pavlov's dog, and the only way to stop the bell from Ringing is to leave this thread...

I hope it wasnt from the East River, lol.

 

[trb123]

Richest in Yankees in King Arthur's court.

 

[triaddukefan]

It's the ingredients. The water is different, the bread becomes different. I've never had New Haven pizza either, and I've in CT for about 55 years. However, my wife's homemade pizza is pretty good.

Well there is a place in Winston Salem.... the owner is from NYC and gets water from NY shipped (or something) down here....... and there is a new place here in Greensboro that has all of its ingredients imported from Italy... including the flour. They even had their wood fired ovens shipped over from Italy. I assume they use the water from here though.

This thread has made me hungry for pizza

 

[Gabbyfan]

You gotta love the clam pie.

I prefer Pepe's summer tomato pizza over the clam pie....it tastes just like a big bruschetta with the garlic, basil and fresh tomato. The big problem is that it is only available July through September. I have heard the workers at Pepe's say that during the last week of September, customers come in and order multiple summer tomato pies, presumably to take home and freeze for consumption later.

 

[JustinesGuy]

I prefer Pepe's summer tomato pizza over the clam pie....it tastes just like a big bruschetta with the garlic, basil and fresh tomato. The big problem is that it is only available July through September. I have heard the workers at Pepe's say that during the last week of September, customers come in and order multiple summer tomato pies, presumably to take home and freeze for consumption later.

Very good post. Summer pie is great too. I like to add bacon to the clam pie

 

[oldude]

You never appreciate what you have until you lose it. Growing up in CT, we had pizza all the time, and sure it was great, but I just assumed that all pizza was great. After spending much of my working career in MD, FL & VA, I learned otherwise. It was a very sad revelation.

 

[mbr33ct]

Zuppardis is west haven has some really good pizza. And they will ship it to you

Growing up in West Haven, I will second Zuppardi's. Just had one from them last week. Every time I happen to be in or around West Haven I make sure to stop and take home one. I usually go with just the cheese (Muzz). I find it the simplest tastes the best.

 

[j66kicker]

I prefer Pepe's summer tomato pizza over the clam pie....it tastes just like a big bruschetta with the garlic, basil and fresh tomato. The big problem is that it is only available July through September. I have heard the workers at Pepe's say that during the last week of September, customers come in and order multiple summer tomato pies, presumably to take home and freeze for consumption later.

Love Pepe's clam pie but it gets cold quickly, having no cheese and no sauce. So we always order a small clam pie as sort of an appetizer - eat it real fast before we dig in to the regular stuff (and of course get an extra pie to go).

Was in NY a couple weeks ago and made the usual pilgrimage to John's of Bleeker Street, which shares my #11 rating (on 1-10 scale) with Pepe's.

Surprisingly, we do have pizza of that caliber here in Phoenix. Have to drive across town to get it, but we used to drive from Avon to New Haven for pizza, so...

 

[Charliebball]

sadly, the quality of the pizza in NJ isn't what it used to be, there's good pie to be had but it's very hit or miss from what I have experienced..........perhaps even worse, the kids seem to be perfectly content with Dominos.........had a bunch of my daughter's friends over the other night and offered to go out and get really good pizza from a local place but they insisted on ordering Dominos..............almost broke my heart...............I was curious about how it tasted and took a bite................about as good as your average frozen pizza................one bite was enough for me...............

 

[Dillon77]

sadly, the quality of the pizza in NJ isn't what it used to be, there's good pie to be had but it's very hit or miss from what I have experienced.....perhaps even worse, the kids seem to be perfectly content with Dominos....had a bunch of my daughter's friends over the other night and offered to go out and get really good pizza from a local place but they insisted on ordering Dominos....almost broke my heart.....I was curious about how it tasted and took a bite......about as good as your average frozen pizza......one bite was enough for me.....

Charlie: The "franchise row" effect in the world can have some deleterious effects on food and taste buds and pizza is no exception, as you described. However, for the individual restaurant offerings, I've got up to five in the Montclair-Clifton area that I'm perfectly happy going to, night-in and night-out, depending on what mood I'm in.
And you can find some decent pie in unexpected areas (South Bend comes to to mind)...just not as many good choices.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

Forget the chains. The best pizza comes from Pizza Post on the Post Road in Cos Cob. Still run by a family of Italians, with one son having gone back to Italy to study Italian cooking at a culinary institute. Best crust around. After that, there's Glenville Pizza, which is also first-rate.

Don't bother with the corporate chains.