Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana

After hearing about this place from a friend, I went here with said friends to go have some after-​movie pizza. To put it shortly, the whole experience was very well! From the convenient location outside the local mall, to the reasonably sized restaurant it is.
They have many 4-​adult size booths. In addition to regular tables to sit 2 together, or by yourself if you just want to relax. There are usually so many seats to choose from, you actually just walk through the lobby and to where ever you want to sit! No need to wait less it’s very busy. After choosing a seat, a waitress was shortly with my group within seconds. She pleasantly took our drink orders first. Yes, they sell alcohol if you’re feeling up to it like my friend was. We ordered the basic cheese pizza, a large & my other friends got 2 small cheese pizzas.
There was approximately about a decent ~8,10 minute wait for the pizza on this non-​busy visit. Did I mention the open kitchen? You can see them making it right there from most spots in the restaurant.
The pizza itself was great. Classic brick oven goodness. One funny thing my friend did (who visits here often) was she dabbed a few napkins over the pizza because there is a little too much grease on top of the cheese. (Literally a small pool of grease).
The pizza had a nice ‘char’ to it, crisp bite, thin and not overwhelming crust. It’s hard to describe a great pizza, so I’ll let your own imagine or future experience drive this one home.
The waitress stopped by once or twice while we ate to make sure everything as alright, appreciated the service.
None the less, my visit here was pleasant! A for sure place I’ll come to another time if I’m in the mood for some more «tomato pie» as Frank Pepe likes to call it.

It really is the best pizza around! Service fast, polite worth driving to the nearest location whenever we want pizza!

First time I had the clam pizza it was good but this time it wasn’t that good. Felt little raw and chewy side

Look, if you’re from Connecticut — you’ve had pizza from Frank Pepe. Whether you believe the hype, try it for yourself!
The thing I like most about this location is that it surprisingly is a bit cheaper than the New Haven (
) AND there’s no crazy wait.
Slightly burnt crust, thin pizza, inconsistent amount and spread of toppings — I prefer take-​out. At least at home, I can feel less stupid for spending $ 30+ on a pie AND devour all of the pizza in shameless glee.
Also, the pizza slicers here can be.interesting. If you don’t want some crazy-​ass looking slices, ask for traditional-​cut slices.
FYI:
Open everyday, 11am-​10pm

Pizza was very good. Went with the half clam half tomato. The clam half was different. It reminded me of mixing clam pasta with pizza dough. I preferred the tomato half but I was glad I tried the clam. Where else are you going to get clam pizza? The service was good. The crust was the star of the show. It is perfectly charred, salty, amazing thin crust.

The one star is for the awesome staff when picking up the pizza. I have been going to this location since it opened, it’s been very good until NOW! I dough was chewy and thick which shouldn’t have been like that if it was anything like the original. I was born and raised in new haven county so I grew up eating awesome pizza, very sad when eating this pie. I guess I have to travel an hour now just to get a good pie, now that there’s no more «New Haven» style pizza in the Manchester, CT area. Too bad. I don’t think I will ever go back again.

Pizzas are very good
But the size of the pies are extremely inconsistent
Very often the large pizzas are the size of their medium pies, I wouldn’t complain but for $ 20 a pie there should be some level of consistency

Here’s why this place is considered to produce the best pizza in America (and let me first establish that head-​to-​toe I’m skeptical, doubtful, pragmatic, grouchy, and pessimistic).
When you eat a slice of Frank Pepe’s pizza, you get the feeling that he’s the one that invented pizza to begin with. He obviously wasn’t, but If you think about all of the pizza you’ve had in your life, chances are the good pizza outnumbers the bad pizza by about 10 to 1. In other words, it’s pretty difficult for a restaurant to mess it up.
There’s a lot of fresh and rustic pizza out there. I might go so far as to say that a lot of joints put forth sophomoric foodie-​bait by shaping their crusts in an intentionally retarded manner, and then topping them with raw ingredients that don’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell of cooking in the amount of time that it takes a pie to finish.
Pepe’s is ultimately refined. The crust wrestles your tongue and leaves behind enough char to remind you that it was cooked in a hot brick oven. The sauce is so balanced that the «tomato» pie – crust, sauce and parmesan (zero mozzarella), leaves absolutely nothing to be desired.
—
I guess they’re famous for the white clam pizza.
I had one. I don’t consider it to be the best pizza I’ve ever had; It was certainly a lot better with a generous splattering of hot sauce.
That being said, it made me realize something: Frank Pepe’s is the pizza shop equivalent of a 5-​star restaurant. Yes they are as good as it gets but like pizza itself they are humble, honest and proud of their tradition.
As much as I wanted to believe it was all hype, I now realize that this is good, friendly, earthy, and joyous food.

Was totally excited to try New Haven style pizza. We got a large half original tomato pie with mozzarella and half fresh garlic. The pizza was huge and delicious! Totally worth every bite and will be craving it again!

There’s really not a whole lot to say here other than this is some of the best pizza in Connecticut. In fact, I’d say this is some of the best pizza in the country, so if you’re in CT, you better go try it out. The original (and famous) Pepe’s is down in New Haven, but if you’re not down that way, you can check out the Hartford location. It’s up toward Buckland Hills mall and can get a bit busy, but it’s worth the wait.
The pizzas here are gigantic and so is the oven they put them in. It’s pretty awesome seeing the chefs work the 10 ft long (I’m guessing) pizza paddles and work the pizzas in the oven. I’m not sure how hot that bad boy is, but the crust of the pizza is fairly thin, so it doesn’t take long for them to get the pizzas out to you.
If you like pepperoni, then don’t look any further, because they’ve got some of the best pepperoni pizza around. The pizza itself is always cut haphazardly (I’m guessing on purpose at this point), so you’ll get mini slivers and then huge ass slices, but they all taste great nonetheless.
I always try to explain pizza in Connecticut to people, because it’s not quite the same as that in New York, and it’s definitely not like the pizza I’ve grown accustomed to in Ohio. It’s my favorite pizza to eat, so if you’re ever visiting the state, you should check out Pepe’s, since it’ll give you a great idea of what CT pizza is all about.

My go to place for clam pizza. Where else can you get clam pizza?
It’s thin crust. So I can eat 4 – 6 slices. I Order a large cause I want to have leftovers.
In fact, twice I have ordered the clam pizza and carried it back to Texas, 4 – 5 hour flight!

If you like burnt pizza, go here. It’s terrible

I was disappointed with this pizza. I’ve heard the hype… Not sure why. It’s flat crust, very flat, very hard. VERY GREASY! I tried to dab it off with a napkin, and on doing so removed most of the cheese. The salad was good, and the staff is very friendly, but I will not be going back.

I wasn’t expecting much when I moved to the Vernon-​area but this place absolutely took me by surprise. It is some of the best pizza I’ve had ever and definitely the best I’ve had in CT. My go-​to is the spinach, mushroom and gorgonzola pie (although, I take gorgonzola off my half) and it’s is outstanding. The service is also great; if you can sit in Jodi’s section, I highly recommend it. She’s awesome
Pepe’s has a limited menu; pretty much pizza and drinks, which is fine with me. I highly recommend the hard root beer… very yummy.
Pro tip: sign up for Pepe’s email to get a free pie on your birthday.

We enjoy the pizza here more than any other place around. Only wish the restaurant was a little closer to where we live so we could go more frequently. We always order more than what we can eat so we can take some home for the freezer. I especially like the Fresh Tomato Pizza which is a seasonal item. But, honestly, we have never had a bad pizza here. We usually share a pitcher (or 2) of beer. Very simple-​great pizza! Trust me, just go!

This location might be lacking the décor and feeling a little of the other New Haven original location but it is the same pizza. I was hesitant to try a new local in a strip mall but I have to say this place was awesome! The pizza is actuality the same and some of the best you can get. Really delicious pies.

3.75 stars.
Frank Pepe’s is tucked in the back corner of the Lazy Boy Shopping center, across the street from the mall.
It’s a newer place, unlike the mother store in New Haven, and it’s located in a strip center. Because of that «newness» the experience is not quite the same as the original, and hence the 3.75 stars rather than 4. The pizza is the same as New Haven, though, crispy thin crust topped with quality ingredients. As a traveler in search of the best pizzas in the world, Pepe’s is one of my favorite pies ever. In my opinion it’s certainly worthy of the many national accolades as one of the best pizzas in the country. If you can’t get to New Haven, then Manchester’s Pepe’s is the next best thing.

Pretty much comparable to the New Haven location! The taste was great and had the same feel as the original spot. This location is a little bit bigger than the New Haven one. I am addicted to Pepes and refuse to eat any other pizza!
I ordered the white clam pizza and the fresh tomato pie. I really recommend the fresh tomato pie if it is in season! Whoever picks out these tomatoes must have the magic touch because the taste was magnificent… perfectly ripe and juicy. Writing this post makes me crave another pie!

I get it. The glowing reviews. Its all about that fresh tomato pie — only available during the summer time. Perfection. Tomato, garlicky, basil goodness. It is a feat of restraint that I only ate two pieces on my ride home. Even my frugal husband gave up his $$ for this tomato pie (which is a tiny bit more expensive than others). So worth it… try it while you can.

Pedí una pizza de tomates con cebolla peperoni y pimentones el sabor estaba bien pero los bordes de la pizza estaban muy quemados para mi gusto!

About a 2 – 2.5: Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana is a huge CT institution, being loved by the locals as their favorite pizzeria. Their original location is in the Wooster Square neighborhood, but they have other locations throughout CT as well as one out in NY. They have been around since ’25 and offers coal-​fired pies (with various toppings, such as sausage, pepperoni, fresh garlic, fresh clams, anchovies, etc.). I was able to try their Margherita (with crushed Italian tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and fresh basil); Fresh Spinach, Mushroom & Gorgonzola (with mozzarella and grated cheese), and, a Pepperoni with Red Bell Peppers. The pizza themselves had a generous amount of toppings, but the dough itself was very chewy, doughy, and cardboard-​like (which I wasn’t really a fan of). I was so sad, as I’ve read other reviews in how the crust was thin and crispy! I thought the tomato sauce was pretty okay, as it wasn’t sweet, but just the right amount of savory. I wasn’t a fan, however, of how they cut the pizza — it wasn’t the traditional pie cut, but it was more all over the place, with small pieces here, and larger pieces elsewhere; in addition, it wasn’t cut deeply enough, so the slices were still connected all together… I also tried some of their fresh salads, one with mixed greens, and one that was Caesar — the Caesar dressing was quite delicious, as it was rich, and creamy.
+generous toppings on pizza
+chewy dough T_​_​_​T
+yummy Caesar dressing for salads