The Spot – Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana

I am a Native New Yorker and can’t get enough of some good pizza. I have been to all the legends in NY — Grimaldi’s, John’s, Lombardi’s, Bleeckers, Patsy’s, etc. Pepe definitely meets that bar.
Pepe has great comfort pizza. Think — the girl next door, but actually, it’s the pizza next door. The dining space is temporary since the original location is undergoing some renovations. However, walking into this humble establishment, you would never know that this place is rated as some of the nation’s finest pizza.
On to the pizza — I ordered the classic pepperoni and mushroom pie, medium. Compared to NY pizza, the crust is definitely a little thicker. Some NY’ers scoff at that, but you need thick crust to hold all that yummy sauce that Pepe pours onto that pie. The generous topping of cheese melting into that sauce makes a classic cheesy slice. Finish that off with fresh mushrooms and some crispy pepperoni, welp, you’re in business.
Btw, the medium is slightly too large for two if you are a medium eater. I would say go for the small. But, you could always bring some slices home =P.
I would say — the toppings, sauce, and cheese is some of the best I have had. The only downfall would be the crust, not as crispy as I like it. Still, some of the best pizza around. Good job, Pepe.

How have I lived in the area most of my life and never had Pepe’s before?!? Delicious! After waiting in line for a bit we opted to order takeout and the pie was so good we ordered it again th next day. Count me as a Pepe’s person.

I was here for the weekend visiting my friend who just recently moved to New Haven. Of course I was excited to visit because New Haven is pretty much the land of pizza. Every block there was pizza.
I was stoked to try this place as I’ve heard how yummy the pizza is. The pizza was so flavorful and fresh. Yum! You can also ask to have the pizza with two different flavors.
Beware though: service here is horrible… servers don’t smile and don’t give a shiz about you. The place is way understaffed when we were here. I can see why that makes them super grumpy.

This is the top of my list for pizza. Went to tour Yale university and Dave Roth said he hear this place was good. That is the wrong word to use good. The correct word to use is exceptionally wonderful. The pizza is cooked over charcoal and thin and crispy. The topping are so fresh you think they must have a garden out back. We took ours to go and ate at a near by park. If you eat in expect a long wait. Lines are long but no one seem to mind. Well after tasting my first bite I know why. Simply number one in my book.

We ordered carry-​out, which is advisable if you don’t want to wait in line for 30+ minutes outdoors. We ordered the white clam pizza and another pepperoni pizza. For all the rage about the clam pizza, our group preferred the pepperoni. The pizza is very good, but a bit light on toppings. We preferred Modern Apizza, which is nearby – and piles on the toppings on a bit thinner crust.

Every time I visit CT, I try to make a stop here. The pizza is made to order and the ingredients are very fresh. Very family oriented and prices are decent. Ordered a white pizza with bacon. Crusts were a bit burnt, but awesome pizza nonetheless. Beer is a nice plus.

Delicious sauce and crust but bizarrely inefficient service. There was a line outside while we saw 3 or 4 empty tables, waiting to be bussed. Our server was also in no hurry to bring us the check despite the lines.
The food is good but probably not worth the wait and, if the day I went was representative, there must be chronically bad wait times.

Great pizza!!! Terrible service.
I showed up at 1ish on a Saturday. There was a line to the parking lot for the main building and only people ‘in the holding tank’ of The Spot. Clearly it was a shorter wait to get in here. I was wrong. Very. Very wrong. We saw the line move twice as quickly on the main building but by then it was too late to move. Once inside we were able to figure out the problem as a line continued to build outside. The seating is horribly inefficient. A table that could seat four had a table that could seat two pushed up to it– probably to accommodate a 6 top at some point but never pulled back apart. This table was used for 3 people twice while we were there. Regularly there were 2 or 4 top tables with no one seated while the line continued to grow outside.
The drinking glasses were dirty. My glass of water had a bit of a yellow/​red tint to it and had floaters. The tables next to us tried desperately to flag someone down for a coke refill.
Once food arrives no one sees a server again until the check comes. Our server didn’t even leave a pen for us to sign the credit slip with.
I could continue complaining for a while.
The main points are as follows:
for any pizza lover– this place is a MUST (get the original pie — no mozz)
try to go when they are not packed– like a weekday afternoon
order bottled drinks and skip the glass

Been here twice now. I found the whole Frank Pepe experience a little confusing because, well, if you’ve looked, you’ll see there are TWO of them on Wooster St. One is called Frank Pepe, this, The Spot. Apparently, The Spot is the original restaurant with the original oven. Apparently not as ‘cute’ as the other, newer restaurant, which accounts for the line and popularity of the other one, but I’m thinking most people don’t know the difference between one and the other. This is also evidenced by the folks in The Spot calling the line for the other restaurant the «sucker» line. Ha!
Anyway, the pizza here and ingredients are first rate. Highly recommended you try both.

Shorter wait, same great pie as next door at the regular Frank Pepe. Not as good as Difara in Brooklyn but maybe the next best thing… certainly in New England. It’s good dough and good sauce cooked in a crazy hot oven with the char on its thin crust to prove it. Just try it and you’ll quit the crappy pizza everyone else serves you. A cut above the rest for sure.

I love Pepe’s! Fantastic Neapolitan pizza! Sometimes there is a wait but they usually move people through the restaurant pretty quickly. I’m not sure why their clam pie is so famous — I’m not a fan — but all of their other pies are bomb! I also love how old school they do things — very simple and to the point — no frill. Great prices, too!

Fist time visit to the Original! The definitely worth all they hype, The Best!

The Spot… How come we’ve noticed this before…
Behind, the parking lot, the sign says the «Original», we thought «yeah right» and walked into the glitzier packed location and asked the Waitress what the difference was between the two buildings, «about 100 feet» was her response. She told us to go there if there was no line.
Wait a minute — we need a little background here.
Frank Pepe’s was est in 1925, in the little single story building behind the lot. In 1937, they made a replica oven and moved next door, selling the Original location. In the late 1970’s, Pepe’s daughters bought the Original location back.
This reminds me of the 53^rd and 6^th Halal Guys Truck, there are now 2 food trucks (they wheel meat from one truck to the other) yet people still prefer to stand on the long line and wait an hr instead of going across the street for the same thing haha!
The Original location is smaller (so although lines may be shorter, wait time may be the same) and a little less fancy, strange smell at times. But it is totally worth not waiting in line and getting the same delicious pizza!
* The Clam Pizza! Are you a roasted garlic lover? If so, get the Large! Cause although a Medium fed 2, I wish we had leftovers!

The pizza Spot can’t compete with an NYC joint.
I’ve wanted to go here after watching a special on the Travel Channel for years now. Finally my food destination dreams have came true. The family pizza feud was such an intriguing story that enticed me to stop by their Wooster street location. Sadly, the original Frank Pepe’s was so busy that we decided to go next door to «The Spot».
I may have a biased opinion about pizza because of my NYC roots but this pizza just fell short of my expectations. It was a cute little joint adorned with historic black and white photos of the famous Frank Pepe. However, the taste wasn’t as memorable as the distinguished décor.
We ordered three medium pies for seven people which was a little more than enough. We got a White Clam Pizza, an Original, and a Margherita Pizza. We also ordered a bottle of their Italian Cabarnet to wash the paper thin slices down.
I like thin slices but the original pie was so thin that it turned into a pizza cracker after three minutes. The cheese hardened and so did the rock hard crust. The White Clam pizza was ok but overly salty. The best pie was the Margherita pie. The liberal amount of sauce kept the moisture from escaping the crust. The refreshing tomato sauce to crust ratio was what made it so delicious. I just wish there was a little more fresh mozzarella and a little more basil.
Connecticut pizza seems like a hybrid between a Queens and Brooklyn brick oven slice. Although I didn’t think it was the best pizza I’ve ever had, their pies certainly have their own unique personality.

Pizza here is great!
Been here twice and both times have been great.
Tried the white clam pizza everyone raves about — but truthfully, I’m not a fan.
Instead, try these ones:
— fresh garlic, Broccoli & Pepperoni
— fresh tomato pie (seasonal)
did a taste test between Frank Pepe’s and Sallys… and Frank Pepe’s had the better tomato sauce — it more more sweet vs. Sallys is more sour

We had a company lunch here, so I’m reviewing this as a private party. And for that, The Spot was excellent. I guess this, the original location of Frank Pepe Pizza (right next door to the current one) is now used for overflow crowds during busy times, but we had it all to ourselves on a Friday afternoon. They brought out pizza after pizza and we all ended up eating far too much since each one was more delicious than the last and nobody wanted to miss anything. The best part was that they let us make our own pizzas, too — we could individually go into the kitchen and make a pizza using their original oven. How cool is that? How many people can say they made pizza at the country’s best, most historic pizza place? Definitely recommended for a unique group event.

Maybe if we had gotten another pizza it would have been a better experience? I don’t know. It seemed as if we ordered a giant flat circle of chewy salt.
If you get the clam pizza, expect a LOT of garlic and salt and not much else.
The place is bare bones in décor, but it could be because they’re more interested in getting the multitudes of customers in and out. So many people!
After eating my meal, I was confused as to why it was so popular. I think this place does well on word alone, as there’s no way everyone thinks this pizza is the best in the world. It just isn’t…
But I digress.
The server was pleasant, the pizza was disappointing, the place was chaotic, I won’t be back.

I’ve finally been to Pepe’s after living in New Haven for over a decade. I suppose I should feel ashamed of that or something, but I’ve always had an aversion to places that have been hyped up, as they are usually a let down. I was happy with the pizza I got at Pepe’s, the toppings were great, and despite the fact that I’m not a super fan of thin crust New Haven style pizza, I did enjoy it.
What I didn’t enjoy was the 45 or so minutes wait that we had to endure before getting a table. I’m glad I made a pit stop at Libby’s beforehand and stocked up on cookies. Honestly, if the people I was with weren’t intent on staying, I would have gone somewhere else. Bottom line for me is, it’s pretty much as good as any other thin crust pizza place (Bar, Modern, etc) in town, but with a super long wait. With countless pizza places in town, I really don’t see any reason to wait, especially with Abate practically next door where I can get my Sicilian style pizza fix.

A $ 40 pizza my ass. A large cheese pizza from Pepe’s costs only $ 16.25. Only $ 16.25. I say «only» because compared to NYC prices that’s an absolute steal. You can’t walk out of Di Fara’s of Brooklyn without paying $ 28 for a regular sized pie which is even smaller than Pepe’s large size. Di Fara doesn’t offer any small sizes. The only way to get a $ 40 pizza from Pepes is by loading it up with tons of toppings crap. And if you want to load it up with tons of toppings, then go right ahead, no doubt you can probably reach a $ 100 pizza. But by that time, what’s the point? After about the 2^nd or 3^rd topping a pizza ceases being a pizza… Just my 2 cents regarding these bozos’ rhetoric that say Pepes is expensive.
The Spot makes very good pizza.

We had friends visiting from out of town this weekend and had planned to bring them to the original Frank Pepe next door but the line was really long even at 1:30pm so we headed here for lunch instead. There was a line but it seemed be a lot shorter than at the other place. We waited about 20 – 30 minutes.
Inside was loud and lively, every table was taken. There was an interesting mix of patrons including college kids walking around with bottles of Coronas, people coming for some pizza after a run or a workout, and large families who appeared to be regulars. After we were seated a waitress came right away and took our drink orders. Since three out of four of us wanted Cokes she suggested we get a pitcher instead of individual glasses since it’d be cheaper.
We ordered a large cheese pizza and a small white spinach, mushroom & gorgonzola pie. I wanted the white clam pizza (had it before from the original location and loved it) but no one else in my group did. The pizzas we got were quite good, especially the spinach, mushroom and gorgonzola. I look forward to my next visit!