Restaurants in New Haven, CT

Being a cosmopolitan college town, New Haven has a wide range of eating opportunities, simple and exotic. It is home to what might be the first hamburger (at Louis Lunch), the first Buffalo-wing tavern in Connecticut (Archie Moore’s), and knock-your-socks-off vegetarian fare (at Claire’s Corner Copia). And many believe that it serves the best pizza in the nation … or in the world. Baked in a wood-fired brick oven, a New Haven pizza is distinguished by its crust. It looks like classic Neapolitan — thin with a puffy collar that is slightly charred. However, the dough is denser and more flavorful than formal VPN-approved pizza, and it is chewy enough that your jaw might ache the next morning. The original version, sold by Frank Pepe from a street cart in the 1920s, was simply a tomato pie, which is tomatoes or tomato sauce, herbs, a sprinkle of hard cheese and maybe a few anchovies. The city’s signature is a white clam pie, made with freshly-opened littleneck clams, garlic, and herbs, but no tomato sauce or mozzarella.

New Haven’s Most Famous Dishes

Char-crusted pizza speckled with clams, garlic, and herbs

White Clam Pizza

Burger on a tender bun with lettuce, tomato, onion, and mayo ... car hop service

Grilled Hamburger

Pizza is crowded with meats, veggies, and feta cheese

Pizzas

Close view of a New Haven pizza topped with thin discs of pepperoni

Pepperoni Pizza

New Haven’s Best Restaurants

Louis Lunch - Hamburger
Louis Lunch

NEW HAVEN, CT

Sally’s Apizza - Fresh Tomato Pizza
Sally’s Apizza

NEW HAVEN, CT

Char-crusted pizza speckled with clams, garlic, and herbs
Pepe’s Pizzeria Napoletana

NEW HAVEN, CT

Bar

NEW HAVEN, CT

Ashley’s Ice Cream

NEW HAVEN, CT

Archie Moore’s

NEW HAVEN, CT

Orangeside Luncheonette

NEW HAVEN, CT

Dayton Street Apizza

NEW HAVEN, CT

Modern Apizza | Connecticut’s Best Pizzerias | New Haven

NEW HAVEN, CT

A slice of Lithuanian Coffee Cake at Claire's Corner Copia in New Haven, CT
Claire’s Corner Copia

NEW HAVEN, CT

New Haven Articles & Guides

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20 Burgers to Eat Before it's Too Late

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Pizza

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Carminuccio’s - Stern Special

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24 slices of tomato pie at Roma Sausage & Deli

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The Origin For the best White Clam pizza in Connecticut, you should first head to New Haven. Some consider it the pizza capital of the universe. Clam pizza first appeared...

Sausage pizza with slight char on its crust

New Haven Pizza Classics | Roadfood Bests

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Chocolate layer cake frosted with caramel and pecans

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Destination Donuts

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Granola is loaded with nuts, berries, raisins, coconut, etc., etc.

Granola Greats, Coast to Coast

Granola first was invented in the 1860s (not the 1960s) and eaten by health nuts of the day. It was a severe dish made from nothing but double-baked sheets...

Yankee Donut Destinations

A donut’s very shape is satisfying. It is complete, a whole circle, nice to lift and easy to dunk. Almost any recently-made donut from a national chain offers the...

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