The Spot didn’t open until 4 PM and Louis Lunch wasn’t open at all. Thankfully Lindsay goes to school in New Haven, so she knew about BAR, a brewpub that sells nothing but beer and pizza. BAR produced the fourth best pizza I’ve eaten in New Haven, and it’s pretty likely that The Spot would trump BAR, but a classic setting and the fifth-best pizza in New Haven – the pizza capital of the United States – still beats any Los Angeles pizzeria.
This is the bar, but we ate in the Brü Rm, a bar with big stainless steel vats of house-brewed beer, a U-shaped bar, wood booths and a high ceiling. The walls are well worn, the floors are tile and the wood is lush, creating a classic vibe.
BAR uses an impressive looking brick oven that sports stacks of wood. Sadly, our waitress revealed the wood was just for effect. BAR gets one demerit for chicanery.
BAR sells three different base pies: Red Pie, Red Pie w/Mozzarella and White Pie (parmesan & garlic). We ordered two small pizzas, a Red Pie w/Mozzarella ($10) and sausage and a White Pie ($10) with green pepper and onion.
Both pies were cracker thin and held up pretty well under the weight of the toppings. The crust was pretty good, but didn’t have the depth of flavor or tang of great pizzerias like Una Pizza Napoletana or Pizzeria Bianco. The charred crust is also infinitely better at Sally’s Apizza across town, where each slice leaves blackened fingers.
The sausage pie was an overall success due to the zesty tomato sauce. The crumbled sausage was sparse and could have used more kick. A few shakes of red pepper flake really added to the pie. The vegetarian pie wasn’t my choice. The white pizza had good flavor, but couldn’t compete with the sauce.
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