7 Apizza Facts That Make Nutmeggers Proud
Say “ah-beets” in New Haven, and nobody will look at you funny. You’re ordering pizza.
Connecticut takes its pizza seriously, and the history backs it up.
Here are the apizza facts that make Nutmeggers proud.
1. Pepe’s Since 1925
Pepe’s apizza began as tomato pies that Frank Pepe made at a Wooster Square bakery, where he worked after World War I.
He first sold them from a pushcart, then took over the bakery and opened his pizzeria at 163 Wooster Street in June 1925.
Later in the 1930s, Pepe bought the building next door at 157 Wooster Street, where the pizzeria is today.
Pepe’s says he also convinced Connecticut that a pizza counts as a full meal, which won him a beer license.
You’ll find the original oven at The Spot, an annex the family reclaimed in 1981.
You can’t reserve at the New Haven location, since it’s walk-in only.
2. Coal-Fired Char
At Pepe’s and Sally’s, coal-fired ovens give you the charred crust New Haven apizza is known for, thin and crisp with a slight chew.
Pepe’s custom-builds a replica of its original coal-fired brick oven at each location.
Walk New Haven says Sally’s still bakes in the same coal-fired oven it has used for over 75 years.
At Modern, your pie bakes in oil-fueled brick ovens instead.
3. White Clam Pie
Pepe’s says white clam apizza began with Frank Pepe in 1964, after he served Rhode Island clams on the half-shell as an appetizer.
Order it at Pepe’s and you get fresh clams, garlic, oregano, grated Pecorino Romano, and olive oil, per the menu.
You won’t see tomato sauce or mozzarella on that list.
The clams come from Long Island Sound and the shores of Massachusetts.
What a Plain Apizza Means
New England Today describes a plain apizza as dough, San Marzano tomato sauce, a sprinkling of romano, and a few dashes of olive oil.
Mozzarella, or mootz, is a topping, like sausage or mushroom.
On Pepe’s menu, the closest match is the Original Tomato Pie, listed from $12.25 as of October 2026, with the mozzarella version from $14.75.
4. Modern Apizza
Modern Apizza says it was established in 1934.
Tony Tolli founded it as Tony’s Apizza.
PMQ Pizza puts the State Street opening at 1936, two years later, and the Modern name at 1944.
The Pustari family took over in 1988.
Pizza Today named Modern its 2023 Pizzeria of the Year.
Its brick ovens reach 700 degrees Fahrenheit, the shop says.
Contact with the brick may char a pie around the edges.
The dough gets a natural mother starter and a 24-hour cold ferment.
On weekends, the shop sells up to 1,100 pizzas a day.
A pass-through opening lets you peek into the original kitchen.
A historic menu board in one dining area displays prices from 1960.
The shop is at 874 State Street, and you won’t find it open on Mondays, as of October 2026.
5. Sally’s Apizza
Sally’s Apizza was founded by Salvatore Consiglio, known as Sally, who was Frank Pepe’s nephew.
He and his wife, Flora, opened the shop on Wooster Street in 1938.
Sally’s and Pepe’s are rivals just a block apart.
You’ll find Sally’s at 237 Wooster Street, and Walk New Haven says the corner of Wooster and Olive Streets bears the names of Flora and Salvatore Consiglio.
Frank Sinatra, Bill Clinton, and Al Gore are among its guests.
You can also find Sally’s at locations in Stamford, Fairfield, Farmington, and Wethersfield.
Psst! How much do you know about New England food? Take our quiz and see if you can ace it.
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6. Ah-Beets Pronunciation
Walk New Haven says the Pepes used the Neapolitan dialect word apizza, pronounced ah-beets, for the pies they started making in 1925.
That sound matches how pizza was pronounced in Naples, and apizza and New York-style pizza both descend from Neapolitan pizza.
Say ah-beets at a New Haven counter, and you'll be using the same word that appears in the names of Sally's Apizza and Modern Apizza.
7. Pizza Capital Title
Pepe's, Sally's, and Modern, three New Haven apizza shops, were among the pizzerias that went to Washington, D.C., in May 2024 to back a Pizza Capital title for New Haven.
U.S. Representative Rosa DeLauro entered a statement into the Congressional Record declaring New Haven the Pizza Capital of the United States.
Connecticut Public described the entry as symbolic.
The governor's office announced in 2025 that transportation company DATTCO unveiled a bus wrap reading "Pizza Capital of the U.S."
If you fly into Tweed New Haven Airport, a 20-by-20-foot sign is planned outside arrivals.
The state Comptroller found 1,376 pizza restaurants in Connecticut, and you'd find New Haven leading the way at 63.
Signature Pies
You can order Modern Apizza's Italian Bomb piled with bacon, sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms, onion, pepper, and garlic.
Sally's Apizza is known for a white potato pie with paper-thin slices of potato and garlic.
Pies typically come out oblong on rectangular metal baking sheets, and you usually can't order apizza by the slice.
New Haven Museum Exhibit
The New Haven Museum has an apizza exhibit called "Pronounced Ah-Beetz" on view through October 2027.
The title comes from the way many people mispronounce apizza.
You step into replicas of three pizzerias, complete with a brick oven.
The exhibit also draws on first-hand oral histories and apizza-related artifacts from personal collections.
Your adult admission is $5, and the museum is open Wednesday through Saturday as of October 2026.
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