THE FRANK PEPE "BUZZ"

2/27/06 - Connecticut Post
Fairfield To Get Taste Of Pepe's Pizza »

By NANCY AND RICHARD WOODWORTH
Best Restaurants of New England
Web Published: Jan. 2005
This is where pizza begins, folks. Or at least where pizza in New Haven – the pillar of pizza land – began.

Since 1925, Pepe's has been synonymous with pizzas in the city's Wooster Square Italian neighborhood. People were lined up outside for the 11:30 a.m. opening on the Saturday we visited. We sidled in with the hordes for a look and were a bit perplexed by what we saw: two high-ceilinged dining rooms not at all down and dirty as you might expect, a huge tiled oven in the open kitchen where the cooks bake pizzas the way they always have, and nothing to let the uninitiated know what to order. No menu; not even a takeout list. Nothing but a sign on the wall advising "tomato pies made to order," followed by a few ingredients and prices for small, medium and large. The tab starts modestly for the basic pie with grated cheese. It tops off in the high teens for the top-of-the-line clam pizza. In between are mozzarella, sausage and chicken, with various sides and combinations.

Nothing trendy here – just the real thing.