Iconic CT Pizzeria Opening New Foxwoods Location

MASHANTUCKET, CT — Acclaimed New Haven-based pizzeria Sally's Apizza announced Thursday the planned opening of two major new restaurants at the Danbury Fair Mall and Foxwoods Resort Casino, as well as major updates to a long-planned Norwalk mall location.

In an update sent to Patch, Sally's Brand Advisor Christian Bonaventura said the SoNo Collection restaurant in Norwalk "has been under an extended development timeline" as the company continues to formulate a combination of special features for this location, first announced back in 2019.

"Our location, which is right at the entrance to the SoNo Collection, is arguably the most prominent restaurant location in the entire state of Connecticut," Bonaventura said in an email to Patch. "For this reason, we have been working to develop SoNo into something truly inspiring."

The SoNo Collection restaurant will now combine a large programmable 4K video wall with a large tree in the center, as well as living walls in the dining room, Bonaventura said.

As the Sally's team works to pull all of these features together, Bonaventura said the opening of the Norwalk location, originally anticipated for the end of this year, has been pushed back to early 2026.

"As Sally's starts its major growth phase into other states, we wanted to do something special for the people where it all began right here in Connecticut," Bonaventura said.

Sally's also announced the planned opening of two additional new restaurants at the Danbury Fair Mall in Danbury and Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket.

According to Bonaventura, the 8,000-square-foot Danbury restaurant will be adjacent to the Cheesecake Factory and serve as the brand's culinary flagship with the widest menu selection of any Sally's restaurant.

"If Sally's had a navy, this would be its aircraft carrier...this is going to be the largest pizza restaurant in Connecticut, maybe in the entire New England region," Bonaventura said, "and the interior design is going to be Vegas level spectacular."

Construction of the Danbury location is expected to begin in 2026, with an opening planned for 2027, according to Bonaventura.

Sally's famed, and mostly fan-created, "rivalry" with fellow acclaimed New Haven pizzeria Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana will move to a new battleground when the brand opens an additional new location at Foxwoods.

Pepe's operates a restaurant at the nearby Mohegan Sun casino and resort in Uncasville.

"You can imagine how excited we are, knowing how excited our fans are about this," Bonaventura said. "You can bet that we are going to turn up the heat on the rivalry with this one."

Bonaventura also teased a "next level" design and finishes for the Foxwoods location, including memorabilia dedicated to iconic Connecticut residents like Marilyn Monroe and Keith Richards.

An anticipated opening date for Sally's at Foxwoods has not been announced yet.

Sally's originated in New Haven nearly a century ago and has become one of the most beloved and famous pizzerias in all of Connecticut, itself also now beloved and famous for its pizza quality.

Founded in the late 1930's by Salvatore Consiglio, Sally's became known over the years for its "thin crust pizza still baked in the same coal-fired oven that has been in use for over 80 years."

The Consiglio family sold the Wooster Street business in late 2017 to Stamford-based Lineage Hospitality, which said at the time that it had plans to expand the business nationally.

In addition to its famed New Haven location, Sally's currently operates restaurants in Stamford, Fairfield, Wethersfield and Farmington, as well as Woburn and Dorchester, Mass.

The pizzeria's website teases a number of new locations "coming soon," including Norwalk, Newington and South Windsor, as well as two more Massachusetts locations.