What Shall We Get? A Pizza Expert’s Guide to Connecticut’s Primo Pies
Colin Caplan, a New Haven native and recognized pizza authority, shares his top picks from the state’s leading pizzerias. He organizes five pizza tours, including the renowned six-hour Pizza Lovers Tour of New Haven, produced the 2019 documentary Pizza: A Love Story, and set a Guinness World Record for the Largest Pizza Party with 4,525 guests. Below are his favorite orders from the five best pizzerias, as ranked by the Connecticut Pizza Trail and Caplan’s list. Responses are edited for clarity.
Modern Apizza
The mozzarella pizza here is superb, delivering rich flavors, satisfying textures, and the gooey pleasure essential to great pizza. Meat enthusiasts should try the Italian Bomb, a powerful combination of three meats, four vegetables, sauce, and cheese, all layered thinly for a burst of taste and texture.
Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana
Opt for the original sauce and grated cheese pie, enhanced with garlic. This classic Neapolitan tomato pie is perfected in Pepe’s iconic coal-fired ovens. For a genuine pizza aficionado, the white clam pizza embodies the New Haven heritage by blending the Quinnipiac shoreline staple with the beloved immigrant flatbread tradition.
Sally’s Apizza
The founder Salvatore Consiglio’s favorite is the original sauce pie with added garlic, a simple yet unforgettable choice.
“Mozzarella pizza here is sublime and complete, and combines all the flavors, textures, and gooey joy that pizza should deliver.”
“Pepe’s white clam pizza codifies the New Haven experience, connecting the Native Quinnipiac staple food of the shoreline to the imported immigrant flat bread we all adore.”
Author’s summary: Colin Caplan highlights Connecticut’s finest pizzas, celebrating each pizzeria’s signature flavors and deep ties to New Haven’s rich culinary and cultural pizza heritage.