Over the year, we plan to update you on our ongoing foodventures since a) food is a big part of Jen's life, and b) apparently it's the thing New Haven is best known for other than Yale. Specifically, New Haven's known for the pizza. Seriously--every person we spoke to who had lived in/near New Haven at some point said that we HAD to try the pizza. Well, two weeks in, and we're here to report in: is the pizza as good as they say it is? Stay tuned...
Pizzawars Episode 1: Bar vs Sally's
Bar is a hopping venue that turns into a dance venue at night, brews its own beer, and boasts a signature pie, the mashed potato and bacon white pizza. Like all New Haven-style pizzas, they go for a thin crust with a lil bit of char, and an asymmetrical shape. All good things, in my book.
Pros: good flavor, crust was generally good. Never had mashed potatoes on a pizza before, and it works! It makes the pizza a little moist. Also: portions. You're looking at two "mediums" which made enough leftovers to feed us for 4 days.
Cons: the mashed potatoes, and in fact most of the ingredients, are in little clumps, not evenly spread. Also the middle of the pizza gets really wet, making it hard to eat the slice without it completely falling down and dropping all the ingredients.
Sally's is a historical New Haven pizza joint started by a guy named Salvatore who, according to legend, refused to scale up even after attaining foodie notoriety and was baking for years with just a single oven. The lines would snake through the whole parking lot. Now however, word on the street is that a more "business-minded" person bought the joint, and is shaking things up.
Pros: best red sauce. Take one bite and you'll know it. Not too much cheese or grease. The rosemary and potato white pizza was also surprisingly good, although very carby.
Cons: really the biggest thing is the dining experience. It's stressful trying to eat at Sally's. Parking's terrible, tables are limited, and it takes a long time for the pies to come out of the oven.
Verdict? Sally's has better pizza, but we'd probably go to Bar over Sally's, for the dining experience. We're also biased, because Bar is right around the corner from us, whereas Sally's is a bit further, and parking in that area is turrrrrible. The gap between the pies just isn't big enough to warrant the stress/waiting. Keep scaling up, Sally's!
Random Tidbit of the week: despite the good pizza, it won't be all pies all year. Is it any surprise that we were able to still find two Asian supermarkets in the neighborhood?
