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Hmm. I tried to edit my post but instead somehow deleted it.
Wanted to say Zuppardiās is the best clam pie hands down. A ton of freshly shucked clams on it.
One thing that puzzles me about New Haven apizza is the way the pizza is cut in random sized slices. Big, little and in between with no rhyme or reason.
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Our first experience with Pepe years ago was a pizza or apizza revelation. Since then we tried other Pepes, Modern, and others, and nothing compares. Cant speak on the quality today but that was by far the best
I thought about maybe popping over to the original Pepeās this week for a clam pie while Zuppardiās was still fresh in my mind. It seemed only fair, especially since the Pepeās clam pie receives such acclaim.
However, then I looked at the photos on the Google reviews, and, while I am no clam expert (I grew up in a landlocked state eating Gulf Coast seafood on vacation), at least some of the pictured clams donāt appear to be fresh. Not sure I am willing to roll the dice and hope that I get the fresh clam pie that I am hoping for. If I do, Iāll be sure to post it. It is tempting, just to have the comparison.
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Iām not a big fan of his either, although he (can be) relatively entertaining. As far as his self, the (only) redeeming quality is that he can and does recognise that he can be a complete jerk and will own up to it. Having said that , He does seem to know and even remember each pie, a feat in itself, but more importantly, Iāve been to enough of the places (not nationally however) to grudgingly admit his scoring is usually spot on or at least extremely consistent. Also, his original basis for choosing pizza (if you could only eat one food ) what would it be is correct LOL, no other food has as many variants to avoid repetition. Even 2 pies from the same place can be very different, much less from other places . Itās why I can a (and do) have several favorite places, depending on the type I feel like having at the time. Sadly, while I rarely want all the toppings, when I do, Modern is still the one for me, amongst single toppings, more places (often much closer) will work for me
I started (rarely) going to Pepeās probably thirty years ago, and the first time was as You say a ārevelationā. Nothing I had had til then - mostly good slices from local slice joints could be remotely compared, it was hard to fathom that they were both pizza. Occasionally, I think Pepeās in NH, or Fairfield can make a great pie but is too much of a risk when others can deliver that much more consistently.
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My understanding is that Modernās claim to fame is their Italian Bomb (everything pie). That is mostly what Iāve had there and I donāt think I would get anything else from there. It is not as easy as you might think to put a bunch of items on, which could hide a multitude of sins. They manage to get both the toppings and the pie itself to be cooked perfectly, plus no one topping overpowers the others, so that the flavours that come thru constantly change with each bite.
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Just to be clear, when I said Iād had bad experiences at Modern, it was not because of the toppings. We once went on a busy weekend evening where we waited in line, then were packed like sardines into the side room, received awful service, and, to add insult to injury, one of the pies was charred to the point of simply being burnt, top to bottom.
The second bad experience was when we ordered our regular sliced tomato pie, as Modern defines it, at an off-peak time, and it came floppy with an undercooked crust.
Thatās not to say that I would not return and order it again, or eventually try the Italian Bomb. At this point we recognize that to a certain extent the pizzerias are playing a numbers game, and perhaps none of them consistently turn out perfectly cooked pies.
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I could not resist the temptation and headed over to Pepeās to sample the white clam pizza.
I do not recommend this mediocre at best āfreshā clam pie. My personal preference is for the crust at Modern or Zuppardiās, although I have no formal complaints about Pepeās crust. That being said, what I really disliked about this pie is that it barely had any fresh clams on top, whatever else was there being unrecognizable to me (canned clams? something else?) and having an odd flavor. For once, I should have listened to the Google reviews.
Interestingly enough, the Zuppardiās clam pie is market price, while Pepeās is fixed price, which might explain the filler.
Pepeās does seem to take its sliced tomato pie more seriously, offering it only seasonally. For that I might return. However, my advice would be to not even entertain the thought of the once mighty Pepeās white clam pie. I threw much of it in the garbage.
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Pepeās may have created the clam pie but I believe Zuppardiās has perfected it. As you noted Zuppardiās price is market as they shuck the clams for the pie when itās ordered. Must be 5-6 dozen clams on a large pie. They shuck the clams over the pie so that all the liquor soaks into the dough. From what I can tell Pepeās uses processed chopped clams. No comparison.
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pepeās used to use fresh clams and weāve been there when theyāve temporarily removed clam pies from the menu if they couldnt source fresh clams. that was seven years ago, not sure whatās happening today.
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when he started pizza reviews, he was a guy from boston that didnt understand nyc pizza. personally, i donāt think he should be ordering whole pies since most of us eat re-heats and that changes the texture of the slice. But mostly, I donāt enjoy his screen persona and I donāt think he knows a thing about investing which has caused a lot of people to lose money and he seems like a toxic guy in real life if you read enough about him.
i will say he seems to have come to an understanding of nyc pizza.
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I believe i was at pepes in 1964 . I was 8 years old . My father and uncle Fritz took me there Something about a secret recipe. I remember looking over the counter into the oven . Long, long ago .
Iām a fan of Taskin Bakery & Cafe in Paterson. I think they have a few products available in Sunnyside (Queens), but it has been a couple of years since I last checked.
