The Dish Frank Pepe's Westport
The Dish Frank Pepe’s Westport

By Ken Valenti

WESTPORT–Westporters have never had to go far to taste why New Haven claims to be the pizza capital of America.

Now they don’t even have to leave town.

Frank Pepe’s Pizzeria Napoletana, one of the pillars of Connecticut pizza supremacy, now serves its blister-crusted pies at 361 Post Road West. In June, Westport gained one of 17 locations of the pizzeria Frank Pepe opened a century ago, in 1925, in New Haven.

Pepe’s calls its Calabrese pizza a winter special, and it’s obvious why. With the sausage and pepperoni, it’s hearty enough for a cold night. But it was the featured special when we stopped by on a recent warm day, so we tried it – and we were glad we did.

You can call it “apizza,” the New Haven way (pronounced “a-PEETH”), or just pizza. Either way, a great pie rests on three elements: crust, cheese and sauce.

Master those, and you’ve got a winner. On Pepe’s Calabrese pie, those elements all held their own. The crust had crackle, the cheese had a chew to it and the sauce had a lively taste. They were not lost to the sausage and pepperoni, and the two meats held their own. The deep red gloss of the Calabrian pepper strips added a small bite, not painful, but enough to keep your taste buds alert.

A slice of the Calabrese pizza at Frank Pepe's Westport - Photo Ken Valenti
A slice of the Calabrese pizza at Frank Pepe’s Westport – Photo Ken Valenti

New Haven’s designation as the Pizza Capital of the United States is even enshrined in the Congressional Record. It was entered by U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro in May 2024, celebrated with a ceremony on the steps of the U.S. Capital in Washington, D.C.

The claim is not undisputed. To those who give New Haven the title, New Yorkers would like a word. But they won’t be the only ones in the conversation. Lovers of the food staple in the Big Apple may act as though their city and Chicago were duking it out over the pizza mecca designation when this upstart small city better known for a university of some note dares to step into the ring.

But if they thought it was an easy knockout, they’ll find that Pepe’s isn’t going anywhere. It’s even expanding, with pizza places from Florida to Massachusetts – including now one in Westport.

Ken Valenti

A career journalist and lifelong resident of the New York City region, Ken Valenti has enjoyed decades of reporting local, regional and national news in New York and Connecticut. Topics of special interest are development, the environment, Long Island Sound and transportation. When not reporting, he’s always on the lookout for the perfect coffee shop or used book sale.