Frank Pepe Opened on Wooster Street in 1925. 7 Things to Know Before Your First New Haven Apizza

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Ask for a “pizza” on Wooster Street and nobody will stop you, but locals will hear an outsider. New Haven apizza, pronounced roughly “ah-beets,” is a thin, charred, chewy, slightly irregular pie baked in very hot ovens, and the tradition started with one immigrant baker in the city’s Little Italy almost a century ago.

That baker was Frank Pepe. According to Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana, he opened his pizzeria on Wooster Street in New Haven in June 1925, at first selling “apizza” from a cart while he saved to expand. The original menu was very simple: a pie with tomatoes, pecorino cheese, garlic, oregano, and olive oil, plus a version with anchovies. Today, according to Delish, the business has grown to 17 restaurants in seven states, but the original Wooster Street location is still the one people line up for.

New Haven’s pizza scene has its own vocabulary, its own rivalries, and its own rules. Here are seven things to know before your first pie.

7 Things to Know Before Your First New Haven Apizza

1. Say “Ah-Beets”

“Apizza” comes from the dialect of Italian immigrants from the region around Naples, and in New Haven it is pronounced roughly “ah-BEETS.” Mozzarella is often called “mootz.” You do not have to use the local words to order, but you will hear them, and knowing them helps you understand the menu and the conversations around you.

2. Expect a Charred, Thin, Chewy Crust

The most distinctive thing about New Haven apizza is the crust. It is thin, crisp at the edges, chewy in the middle, and often charred in spots, with blackened bubbles. That char is intentional. The big pizzerias use extremely hot brick ovens. Frank Pepe’s main building at 157 Wooster Street has a huge coal-burning oven built in 1936, according to the barbecue and cooking site AmazingRibs, which reports that it runs at about 600 degrees Fahrenheit. Some newcomers think the char means the pizza is burned. In New Haven, it means it was done right.

The pies are also often oblong or irregular, not perfect circles, and they are usually served on metal trays lined with paper.

3. Mozzarella Is a Topping, Not a Given

On a New Haven tomato pie, mozzarella is optional. Frank Pepe’s Original Tomato Pie, still on the menu, is made with tomatoes, grated pecorino, garlic, oregano, and olive oil, with no mozzarella unless you ask for it, according to Delish. If you want a cheese pizza like the kind you might know from elsewhere, order a tomato pie with mozzarella. Locals often say “plain” for a pie without mozzarella and “mootz” for one with it.

4. Order the White Clam Pie

The white clam pie is New Haven’s most famous pizza. It has no tomato sauce. Instead, it is topped with clams, olive oil, garlic, oregano, and grated cheese. According to Eater, Frank Pepe’s invented it, which makes sense: New Haven is right on Long Island Sound. Eater also suggests pairing it with bacon. Many people think it sounds strange until they taste it. At Pepe’s, it is made with freshly shucked littleneck clams. If clams are not your thing, order a tomato pie too, and split both.

5. Know the Big Three

New Haven has many pizzerias, but three are the most famous, and locals have strong opinions about which is best.

• Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana: The original, opened in 1925 on Wooster Street.
• Sally’s Apizza: Also on Wooster Street, at 237 Wooster, opened in 1938, 13 years after Pepe’s, according to the MTA’s travel guide. It has a coal-fired brick oven and is known for its own clam pie. Delish notes that Sally’s was opened by Frank Pepe’s nephew.
• Modern Apizza: At 874 State Street, about a mile from Wooster Street, founded in 1934 and originally called State Street Pizza, according to Pizza Today. It is known for a wide range of toppings and a busy dining room.

Pizza Today calls the three New Haven’s “Holy Trinity of Pizza.” Many visitors try all three in one trip. Other well-known spots include Zuppardi’s Apizza in West Haven, in business since 1934, according to Eater.

6. Plan for Lines

Lines are part of the New Haven apizza experience, especially at Pepe’s and Sally’s on Wooster Street. On weekends and evenings, waits of an hour or more are common.

• Go early: Arrive before the lunch or dinner rush, ideally right when they open.
• Go midweek: Weekday afternoons are often calmer.
• Get takeout: Order ahead by phone or online and eat at home, at your hotel, or in a nearby park, if you do not mind losing a little crispness.
• Try The Spot: Frank Pepe’s original building, next door to the main restaurant, is often called The Spot and can have a shorter wait.
• Go in the off-season: Late fall and winter weekdays can be calmer than summer weekends and Yale event weekends.

7. Drink a Foxon Park Soda

New Haven’s pizza tradition has a signature drink: Foxon Park soda, made in nearby East Haven. Eater lists it as part of the New Haven pizza lexicon. Flavors include birch beer, white birch, gassosa, and others. It is sold in glass bottles at many local pizzerias. A Foxon Park soda with a white clam pie is about as New Haven as it gets.

What It Costs

Prices vary by size and toppings, but expect apizza to cost more than chain pizza. At Frank Pepe’s, a medium or large pie typically runs about $17 to $32 depending on size and toppings. The white clam pie is among the more expensive pies on the menu. A meal for two with one large pie and drinks often runs $35 to $55 before tip. Check current menus, since prices change.

A Wooster Street Walk

Wooster Street is the heart of New Haven’s historic Little Italy. Besides Pepe’s and Sally’s, it has Italian bakeries and pastry shops, a small park, and a long tradition of Italian American community life. After your pizza, walk the street and stop for Italian pastries or cookies. Wooster Square Park, a historic park lined with old houses, is a short walk away and is famous for its cherry blossoms in spring.

Late Fall and Winter Visits

Late fall and winter are good times to visit New Haven for pizza. The weather is cold, but pizzerias are warm, and the lines can be shorter on weekdays. Combine your pizza trip with:

• The Yale University Art Gallery: Free and open to the public, according to Yale.
• The Yale Center for British Art: Also free.
• The Peabody Museum: Yale’s natural history museum.
• A walk around the New Haven Green: The historic town green in the center of the city.

Check holiday hours, since pizzerias and museums may close on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day.

Getting There

• From New York City: About 80 miles, roughly 1.5 to 2 hours by car via I-95, or about two hours on Metro-North’s New Haven Line.
• From Boston: About 140 miles, roughly 2.5 hours via I-95 or I-84 and I-91.
• From Hartford: About 40 miles, roughly 45 minutes via I-91.
• By train: Amtrak and Metro-North serve New Haven’s Union Station, a short ride from Wooster Street.
• Parking: Street parking on Wooster Street is limited. Look for nearby lots and garages.

Tips for a Better Visit

• Order more than one pie: Try a white clam and a tomato pie, at least.
• Eat it hot: Apizza is best right out of the oven.
• Bring patience: Service can be brisk, and the dining rooms are busy and loud.
• Respect the rivalries: Pepe’s versus Sally’s is a friendly debate. Do not expect to settle it.

Other Pizzerias Worth Knowing

Beyond the big three, New Haven has other well-known pizzerias, and locals often have favorites outside the famous names. Zuppardi’s Apizza in West Haven, in business since 1934, is known for its own clam pie, and other neighborhood spots around the city have loyal followings. If the lines on Wooster Street are too long, these are good alternatives.

Pizza Etiquette

• Order by size: Pies come in small, medium, and large. A large feeds two to three people.
• Ask for well done or light: Some places will adjust the bake.
• Expect paper and trays: Pies are often served on metal trays lined with paper, not plates.
• Share pies: It is common to order two or three different pies for the table.

Bringing Pizza Home

If you live within a few hours’ drive, many visitors buy extra pies to take home. Ask for them slightly underbaked, then reheat them in a very hot oven at home.

The Bottom Line

Frank Pepe opened his pizzeria on Wooster Street in 1925, and New Haven has been arguing about pizza ever since. Before your first New Haven apizza, learn to say “ah-beets,” expect a charred thin crust, remember that mozzarella is an add-on on a tomato pie, order the white clam pie, know Pepe’s, Sally’s, and Modern, plan around the lines, and grab a Foxon Park soda. Then go back and try another one.