Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana, commonly known as Frank Pepe's or simply Pepe's (), is a popular
pizza
Pizza (, ) is a dish of Italian origin consisting of a usually round, flat base of leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomatoes, cheese, and often various other ingredients (such as various types of sausage, anchovies, mushrooms, on ...
restaurant in the
Wooster Square
Wooster Square is a neighborhood in the city of New Haven, Connecticut to the east of downtown. The name refers to a park square (named for the American Revolutionary War hero, David Wooster) located between Greene Street, Wooster Place, Chapel S ...
neighborhood of
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134 ...
, at 163 Wooster Street. Opened in 1925, it is one of the oldest and best known pizzerias in the United States.
Frank Pepe
Pepe's was founded in 1925 by Frank Pepe (April 15, 1893 – September 6, 1969), an
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
immigrant. Pepe was born in
Maiori
Maiori (Campanian: ; originally ''Rheginna Maior'') is a town and '' comune'' on the Amalfi coast in the province of Salerno (Campania, Italy). It has been a popular tourist resort since Roman times, with the longest unbroken stretch of beach o ...
, Italy, and immigrated to New Haven in 1909 when he was a teenager. The quintessential
Wooster Square
Wooster Square is a neighborhood in the city of New Haven, Connecticut to the east of downtown. The name refers to a park square (named for the American Revolutionary War hero, David Wooster) located between Greene Street, Wooster Place, Chapel S ...
Italian immigrant took a job at a New Haven factory, but wasn't fond of continuing there. During
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
, Pepe went back to Italy to fight for his native country.
[Ed Levine (2005). ''Pizza: A Slice of Heaven''. Universe Publishing, ] Upon returning, he soon landed a job working at a bakery on Wooster Street.
[Penny Pollack & Jeff Ruby (2005). ''Everybody Loves Pizza''. Clerisy Press] Pepe began walking through the Wooster Square market and sold his "tomato pies" off of a special headdress. After saving enough money, he was able to buy a wagon from which he sold his pizzas.
[Anthony Riccio (2006). ''The Italian-American Experience in New Haven''. State University of New York Press] He was so successful that he was eventually able to take over his employer's business and turn it into the first "Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana" on June 16, 1925. Frank Pepe died on September 6, 1969.
Restaurant history
Pepe's originated the New Haven-style thin-crust
apizza[Welcome to The Original Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana – Home](_blank)
Pepespizzeria.com (1969-09-06). Retrieved on 2010-12-13. (closely related to
Neapolitan
Neapolitan means of or pertaining to Naples, a city in Italy; or to:
Geography and history
* Province of Naples, a province in the Campania region of southern Italy that includes the city
* Duchy of Naples, in existence during the Early and Hig ...
-style Italian pizza) which he baked in a
coal-fired brick pizza oven. Originally, Frank Pepe only made two varieties of pizza: the "tomato pie" (tomatoes with grated
pecorino romano
Pecorino Romano () is a hard, salty Italian cheese, often used for grating, made with sheep's milk. The name "pecorino" simply means "ovine" or "of sheep" in Italian; the name of the cheese, although protected, is a simple description rather t ...
cheese,
garlic
Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plant in the genus '' Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, Welsh onion and Chinese onion. It is native to South Asia, Central Asia and northeas ...
,
oregano
Oregano (, ; ''Origanum vulgare'') is a species of flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae. It was native to the Mediterranean region, but widely naturalised elsewhere in the temperate Northern Hemisphere.
Oregano is a woody perennial ...
, and
olive oil
Olive oil is a liquid fat obtained from olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea''; family Oleaceae), a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin, produced by pressing whole olives and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking: ...
) and the other with the addition of
anchovy
An anchovy is a small, common forage fish of the family Engraulidae. Most species are found in marine waters, but several will enter brackish water, and some in South America are restricted to fresh water.
More than 140 species are placed in 1 ...
.
The piece of land which Pepe's restaurant sat on was owned by the Boccamiello family. They later made Frank Pepe leave so that they could start their own pizzeria at the establishment, which they renamed The Spot. Pepe moved his restaurant to its current location next door to The Spot in 1936. The Pepe family later bought back The Spot from the Boccamiello family in 1981 and it now serves the same menu as the older restaurant.
In the alleyway between The Spot and Pepe's, Boccamiello's nephew Bear would open clams and sell them on the half shell to passersby.
Pepe's restaurant began serving littleneck clams on the half shell at the bar. It was only a matter of time before he decided to put the clams on the pizza. The
white clam pie is just crust, olive oil, oregano, grated cheese, chopped garlic, and fresh littleneck clams.
The restaurant will serve the pizza with or without
mozzarella cheese
Mozzarella (, ; nap, muzzarella ) is a southern Italian cheese traditionally made from Italian buffalo's milk by the pasta filata method.
Fresh mozzarella is generally white but when seasoned it turns to a light yellow depending on the anim ...
, but they try to discourage customers from ordering it with mozzarella because they feel that it makes the pizza too heavy and rich. They are also adamant on using freshly shucked clams as opposed to canned clams; if fresh clams are not available then they will not serve the white clam pie. Three men are employed by Pepe's just for shucking the clams on location. Since its invention, the white clam pie has become the signature pizza of pizzerias in New Haven.
Since opening a
Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
Chestnut Hill is an affluent New England village located west of downtown Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Like all Massachusetts villages, Chestnut Hill is located within one or more incorporated municipal entities. It is located par ...
location in 2015,
Pepe's has expanded to fifteen locations in Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maryland, Virginia and Florida.
Menu
All of Pepe's locations feature the same menu. Since 1925, Pepe's has exclusively served
Foxon Park
Foxon Park is a soft drink brand produced by Foxon Park Beverage Company. The company is located in East Haven, Connecticut. Their sodas are a traditional accompaniment to the New Haven-style pizza sold throughout the area. They are also served ...
bottled sodas from
East Haven, Connecticut
East Haven is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 27,923. Located east of New Haven, it is part of the Greater New Haven area. East Haven is from Hartford, from New Yor ...
. The restaurant offers soda, beer, wine, and several varieties of pizzas and toppings.
Ovens
All Pepe's ovens are coal-fired and built in exactly the same manner from brick, based on the original. They measure by and cook pizzas in approximately 8 to 10 minutes. The oven cooks at .
Locations
Pepe's has expanded outside of New Haven as a small family owned chain. Nine relatives are co-owners of the chain, including grandsons Gary Bimonte (1959–2021) and Francis Rosselli. All locations feature the same green and white design of their building and fixtures, serve on the square pizza pans and use the same suppliers for their ingredients.
Competition
Another Wooster Street pizza restaurant,
Sally's Apizza
Sally's Apizza is a pizzeria
A pizzeria is a restaurant focusing on pizza. As well as pizza, dishes at pizzerias can include kebab, salads and pasta.
Many pizzerias offer take-away, where the customer orders their food either in advance or ...
, was founded by Pepe's nephew Sal Consiglio in 1938. Sally's and Pepe's have a long friendly rivalry and pizza fans are divided over which serves the better pizza.
[Reinhart, Peter (2003). ''American Pie: My Search for the Perfect Pizza''. ][Shelton, Jim]
You say Sally's, I say Pepe's
New Haven Register,2002-07-21 Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the " Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular entertainers of the 1940s, 1950s, and ...
, for example, was a fan of Sally's, while President
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
preferred Pepe's.
Business
Pepe's is also a major
tourist attraction
A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or an exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement.
Types
Places of natural ...
in New Haven.
* 1999: Pepe's was named to the
James Beard Foundation
The James Beard Foundation is a New York City-based national non-profit culinary arts organization named in honor of James Beard, a prolific food writer, teacher, and cookbook author, who was also known as the "Dean of American Cookery." The prog ...
's list of "America's Classics".
* 2006: Pepe's is acknowledged on the
History Channel
History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...
's ''American Eats'' show as the originator of
New Haven-style pizza
New Haven-style pizza is a style of thin-crust, coal-fired Neapolitan pizza common in and around New Haven, Connecticut. Locally known as apizza (, from Neapolitan ''’na pizza'' , "a pizza"), it originated in 1925 at the Frank Pepe Pizzeria ...
in 1925.
* 2009: Pepe's was named the "Best Pizza on Earth" by ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...
''.
* 2009:
Alan Richman
Alan Richman (born January 25, 1944) is an American journalist and food writer. He was a food correspondent for '' GQ'' magazine, and has won 16 James Beard Foundation Awards for journalism.
Early life and education
Richman is a graduate of the ...
, food correspondent for ''
GQ'' magazine, names the tomato pizza at Pepe's the twelfth best pizza in the country in the May issue.
* 2009: ''Connecticut Magazine'' named Pepe's the best in the state.
* 2010: Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana was inducted into that Connecticut Hospitality Hall of Fame on December 7, 2010.
* 2013:
Zagat
The ''Zagat Survey'', commonly referred to as Zagat (stylized in all caps; , ) and established by Tim and Nina Zagat in 1979, is an organization which collects and correlates the ratings of restaurants by diners. For their first guide, coverin ...
said that the white clam pizza at Pepe's was the best pizza in the state, in an article naming the best pizza in each state.
* 2013: The website
The Daily Meal
The Daily Meal is a food and drinks website. It is the first site launched by Spanfeller Media Group. Jim Spanfeller is a former CEO of Forbes.com. In 2016, Spanfeller was acquired by Tribune Publishing.
Content
The Daily Meal produces original co ...
named the white clam pizza at Pepe's the best pizza in the country.
* 2014: The Daily Meal named the white clam pizza at Pepe's the best pizza in the country for the second year in a row.
Documentary
Pepe's is one of three pizza restaurants featured in the documentary film ''Pizza A Love Story'', directed by
Gorman Bechard
Gorman Bechard (born March 15, 1959) is an American film director, screenwriter and novelist best known for his independent feature films '' Psychos in Love,'' '' Friends (with benefits),'' and '' You Are Alone''; his four rock documentaries '' C ...
. The film had its world premiere at
IFFBoston in April 2019. The film was released on DVD and pay-per-view on September 29, 2020.
See also
*
List of Italian restaurants
This is a list of notable Italian restaurants, which specialize in the preparation and purveyance of Italian cuisine:
* Amato's
* Bella Italia
* Beppi's Restaurant
* Buca di Beppo
* Carrabba's Italian Grill
* Cibo Espresso
* Drago re ...
*
List of pizza chains of the United States
References
External links
* {{Official website, http://www.pepespizzeria.com/
Frank Pepe's review at SliceRoadfood.com listing, with reviewby
Michael Stern
Pizzerias in the United States
Buildings and structures in New Haven, Connecticut
Economy of New Haven, Connecticut
Italian-American cuisine
Italian restaurants in the United States
Italian-American culture in Connecticut
Restaurants in Connecticut
Tourist attractions in New Haven, Connecticut
Restaurants established in 1925
James Beard Foundation Award winners
1925 establishments in Connecticut