Legendary CT Pizza Place Among Best In The U.S.: Food & Wine

CONNECTICUT — When it comes to pizza, the question is perennial: What pizzeria makes the best pie? According to the well-regarded cooking magazine Food & Wine, Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana in New Haven (with locations throughout Connecticut) makes the cut.

The list is composed of the creations of top chefs and bakers who, according to Food & Wine, “are among the new breed of pizzaiolos who are just as fanatical about the temperature of their ovens as they are about the provenance of their ingredients.”

Frank Pepe's ranked 17th on the list of 28 restaurants. Food & Wine said that the White Clam Pizza remains Pepe's most popular, but the Original Tomato Pie, which is served without mozzarella, is also still on the menu.

In addition to Connecticut, Pepe's also has locations in Massachusetts, Florida, Rhode Island, New York, Maryland and Virginia.

The Connecticut staple is no stranger to best-of rankings; a couple of years ago, Pepe's was named the nation's top pizzeria by The Daily Meal.

Food & Wine gives the top nod to Pizzeria Verti in Philadelphia. Rounding out the top five pizzerias are A16 Rockridge in Oakland, California; Milo & Olive in Santa Monica, California; Pig Ate My Pizza at Nouvelle Brewing in Robbinsdale, Minnesota; and Del Popolo in San Francisco.

The 28 pizzerias in the report are located in nine states. New York City has the most, with 12 pizzerias, followed by California with eight and Pennsylvania with two. Arizona, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Rhode Island and Washington each had one pizzeria that made the cut.

To read Food & Wine's "28 of the Best Pizza Places in the U.S.," click here.