Apizza

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Apizza (pronounced ah-BEETS) is a style of Neapolitan style pizza common in New Haven, Connecticut. It originated at the Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana and is now served in many other pizza restaurants in the area, including Sally's Apizza, Modern Apizza, and Zuppardi's Apizza.

Apizza has a thin crust that varies between chewy and tender, depending on the particular establishment. It is baked in a coal- or wood-fired brick oven. Another characteristic of New Haven pizza is that the default version is a "white" pizza topped with only garlic and hard cheeses; customers who want tomato sauce or mozzarella cheese have to ask for them explicitly. The quintessential New Haven pizza is a white clam pie.

One of the distinct differences between pizza from this area versus pizza from New York is that pies are sold whole, whereas in New York, it is possible to get slices. The difference in texture is significant. Pies cooked to be reheated and sold as slices tend to have a chewer crust whereas apizza crust tends to be very crisp. Yet another trademark of apizza is a very dark 'scorched' crust. This adds a distinctive bitter flavor offset by the sweetness of the tomatoes.

Use of the term "apizza" is mostly confined to the Italian-American enclaves of New Haven and Bridgeport, and is likely derived from the local Italian-American dialect. The dish is more widely known throughout the region as simply "New Haven-style pizza", as opposed to "New York-style pizza" which remains the dominant style of pizza-making throughout New England and the Mid-Atlantic states.