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We've compiled the best of the best in New Haven, Mystic, and the Coast - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.
Celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2025, this is the place that put New Haven pizza on the map. Try the justifiably famous white-clam pie (especially good topped with bacon), but one can never go wrong with the original tomato pie (with mozzarella)—thinking about it makes your mouth water. Die-hard fans claim they serve the best pizza in the world.
It's not what Modern Apizza has that sets it apart from the rest but what its signature pie doesn't have: toppings. The pizzeria's "plain" pie is a thin crust with a layer of tomato sauce and just a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese—if you want "mootz" (mozzarella in New Haven–speak) or any other toppings, then you have to ask, but why mess with a classic? Modern Apizza has been serving its "plain" pies from the same spot since 1934, and business is still booming. A circa-1960 menu—when the cost of a pie ranged from $.90 to $1.50—still hangs on one wall.
Nana's is a pizzeria, restaurant, and bakery, all in one, and ingredients and preparation are chosen with local farms in mind. Coffee and breakfast (local egg sandwiches, chilaquiles, mushroom toast) start the day, sandwiches and small plates begin the lunch hour, with locally raised rotisserie chicken, and sourdough pizza leavened with koji (a byproduct of locally produced soy sauce) available after 11 am.
This place has been a rival of Frank Pepe's since 1938, when Salvatore Consiglio, Pepe's nephew, decided to break away from his relatives and open his own place. The result of this family feud is two competing pizzerias and a divided city: those who believe Frank Pepe's serves the best pizza and those who are devoted to Sally's.
