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

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 apizzaWelcome to The Original Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana – Home
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.

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.

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.pepespizzeria.com/
Frank Pepe's review at Slice

Roadfood.com listing, with review
by 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