Pepe's Pizzeria Napoletana of Fairfield - Fairfield, CT

Posted by Michael Stern on October 21, 2007

The original Pepe's of New Haven has been our place since we met, and we've continued to believe in it even on some recent occasions when the crust was soft and toppings slippery. As devotees of one-of-a-kind restaurants, we were especially ready not to like Pepe's Pizzeria Napoletana of Fairfield, Connecticut, a branch of the original that opened a few weeks ago just down the road from Super Duper Weenie. Pulling into the parking lot, we were annoyed right away. At one o'clock on a Sunday afternoon, the line waiting to get in stretched forty yards out the door.

Then it occurred to us: waiting in line has always been part of the Pepe's experience, so at least in that one respect, the Fairfield County branch is following tradition. There you have the bad news: it's too popular.

The good news is that the pizza is magnificent. We ordered a white clam pie, a pepperoni and mozzarella pie, and an original tomato (no mozzarella) pie. Each looks exactly like the Wooster Street original; and even if the crust seems perhaps 10% thicker and not quite as elegant as New Haven on a good day, it has that perfect balance of crunch and chew, the savory burnt edge, and the debris-strewn underside that characterizes Connecticut's super-soulful Neapolitan pizzas.

One big difference between this place and the original is the waitstaff, which actually is courteous rather than New Haven brusque. Still, they're all business. Our waiter virtually sprinted to the table three minutes after we were seated. We hadn't looked at a menu but he nevertheless demanded to know what we wanted. "Order now," he commanded. "They're backed up on pizzas in the kitchen." Towards the end of the meal, after he decided we were OK because we ordered the right things and ate them all, he confided, "We must have a lot of good New Haven people here today. They're ordering the classics – white clam, plain tomato. You know someone is a novice when they ask for bacon with their clams or extra mozzarella."

The dining experience is wonderfully no-frills. Plates are plastic (not paper), the metal trays on which pizzas arrive aren't yet battered and bent, and the silverware is the same useless, flimsy stuff they dole out back in New Haven. When two people order the same soft drink, the waiter suggests a quart, which is brought to the table along with tumblers full of ice for customers to pour themselves.

To summarize: if you don't mind waiting and you don't need waitstaff coddling, Pepe's Pizzeria Napoletana of Fairfield just might serve you the best pizza of your life.

Overall: Worth driving from anyplace

29 out of 29 people found the review helpful. Was it helpful to you?

Reviewers "Must Eats" List

Tomato Pie (small) ($6.00)

"Briny, salty, garlicky, juicy, oily, toasty, chewy... this is the perfect food!"
Bruce Bilmes and Sue Boyle

"Pepe's pepperoni has a distinctive character. It is sliced thick and has a peppery bite -- great harmony for gobs of oozy mozzarella cheese."
Michael Stern

"Thick, spicy pepperoni, chunky and juicy sausage, and chewy cheese sits atop Pepe's unparalleled crust."
Bruce Bilmes and Sue Boyle

"The original pie that Frank Pepe sold from a rolling cart on the streets of New Haven: crushed tomato and grated cheese. Without the oozy cheese, this pizza has a bright, savory character unlike any other."
Michael Stern

"If you don't love clams, or you don't love garlic, you're not likely to fall in love with Pepe's white clam pie."
Bruce Bilmes and Sue Boyle

"It's the jaw-achingly good and salty crust that makes a Pepe's pie what it is."
Bruce Bilmes and Sue Boyle

"No cheese at all, not even Parm. We would have to believe that both Pepe's use the same canned tomatoes - yet we thought these tasted sweeter and more tomatoey than the ones used in New Haven. Perhaps that's just because in the plain pie they have nothing to fight against (we've never had one in New Haven)."
Bruce Bilmes and Sue Boyle

"Here's one thing that makes a Pepe's pizza so wonderful: the underside of the crust, all spattered and spangled with burned crumbs from the oven's floor. The combination of yeasty aroma and fire taste is one of gastronomy's finest treasures."
Michael Stern

"A wee bit saltier than we remember and with a crust that isn't quite as brittle, this white clam pizza is nonetheless a masterpiece: oil, spice, garlic and marine-sweet clams atop a bed of bread that is a joy to chew."
Michael Stern

"Pepe's in Fairfield is more user-friendly. The tables are even equipped with grated cheese (not so in New Haven)."
Bruce Bilmes and Sue Boyle

"The kitchen of the new Pepe's almost exactly replicates the old one. The pizza-makers' techniques haven't changed for decades. The result: a meal with indescribable soul. "
Michael Stern

"Here are our friends Greg and Lauren, along with Jane, at the table as our 3-pizza meal began to draw to a close. We must have used 50 napkins between us."
Michael Stern

"Pepe's oven is as busy as O'Hare Airport, with pizzas going in and coming out several times a minute."
Michael Stern

"We are still trying to figure out a time of the day or week when we won't have to wait in line. The hours at this Pepe's, by the way are 3pm to 10pm Monday through Thursday, 11:30am to midnight Friday and Saturday, and noon to 10pm Sunday."
Michael Stern

"Pepe's now offers something to keep you busy while your pizza cooks."
Bruce Bilmes and Sue Boyle

"Offered only in the summer, Pepe's fresh tomato pie includes fresh basil and garlic; lots and lots of garlic."
Bruce Bilmes and Sue Boyle

"It's the combination of the pizza crust and the intense heat of the coal oven that makes a Pepe pie better than all others."
Bruce Bilmes and Sue Boyle