Sally’s Apizza constitutes half of one of the nation’s fiercest restaurant rivalries. Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana, the other half, sits two blocks away. In April 1938, thirteen years after Uncle Frank opened his Pizzeria Napoletana, Salvatore “Sally” Consiglio opened down Wooster Street. He owned and operated Sally’s until he passed away in 1989. His wife Flora, their daughter and two sons now preside over Sally’s pizza kingdom.

Sally’s opens its doors at 5 PM. As we found out, if you’re not in on the first seating, you wait, and wait, and wait. It was painful to look past the neon American flag into the dining room and see customers without pizzas. Since Sally’s pizzaiolos are perfectionists, it takes awhile for each pizza to arrive. After an hour-and-a-half in line, we debated whether it was worth the excruciating wait.

I got a couple dismissive looks and a cascade of sighs when I asked to take a photo of the brick oven. Here’s the result. Check out the Miller Lite clock. There’s also one in the dining room. At Sally’s, it’s always Miller Time.

The wood walls are jammed with framed write-ups, an obligatory painting of Frank Sinatra, and a platinum record (and cassette) from Michael Bolton of all people. The dining room also houses cushioned booths and these red and green PIZZA lanterns.

Jane and Michael Stern of Roadfood raved about an off-the-menu item, the “Italian bomb.” When I ordered it, I was surprised when Sal’s son said, “What’s that?” I recited the ingredients from memory: mozzarella, sausage, pepperoni, bacon and onion. He said they should call it the “cardiac pizza.” After my first bite of the apocryphal “Italian bomb,” I was actually convinced the two hour wait may have been worth it. It was that good. The sauce was tangy, the meats were top-shelf, and the crust remained crisp without being dry. Since the pies were cooked in a coal oven, my fingers turned black from holding the crust.

This simple tomato pie was a good test of the pizza kitchen’s abilities. They couldn’t hide behind the flavor of meat, and it turned out to be the best pizza we ordered. I’m as big a believer in bacon and sausage as anybody, but sometimes pure is better.

I’m not a big believer in sauceless pizza, but Lindsay and her mom ordered a medium “white pizza” topped with olives, onions and peppers. The crust was still fabulous, but the pizza was missing the pop of the tomato sauce.

It’s been about ten years since I tried Pepe’s, so my memory is a little fuzzy, but it’s hard to imagine a pizza being better than at Sally’s. Next time, I’d arrive at 4:30 to ensure being part of the first seating. And yes, there will be a next time.

Open Tuesday-Sunday @ 5 PM, open until 11 PM Fri-Sat, 10 PM other nights

Related Posts

1. Sally’s Apizza – New Haven, CT – Saturday, October 4, 2008
2. Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana – New Haven, CT – May 1, 2009
3. Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana (a.k.a. Pepe’s) – New Haven, CT – Sunday, August 31, 2008
4. The Spot – New Haven, CT – Saturday, April 19, 2008
5. Apizza Scholls – Portland, OR – March 5, 2009

This entry is filed under New England, Pizza Parlor.