As I mentioned in previous reviews, particularly of Pepe’s and Modern Apizza, I was essentially raised on New Haven style pizza (a.k.a. “Apizza”, pronounced more like “A-beetz”). In the world of Italian-American pizza traditions, it is one of the classics, with its faithful adherents, and it’s three major denominations (Pepe’s, Sally’s, and The Modern, all of which have intertwined heritages). To the point where I can mention to people that I had family in “New Haven” and they would immediate ask “Pepe’s or Sally’s”, waiting with bated breath for my answer, and the ensuing judgement. I’ll have to clearly state that, both through family history and my own preferences, I’m definitely in the Pepe’s faith, but I’ve been known to go to, and enjoy, Sally’s on more than a few occasions, although often having to turn up my coat collar and hope none of the extended family sees me (although the strongest adherents of the Faith in the family have now passed).
Well, recent years have seen a lot of change in the New Haven Pizza scene. The biggest change was 2006 when Pepe’s started to become a chain (the adjacent “The Spot” not really counting as a second locaiton) with a location in Fairfield, and eventually growing into a family of locations all over New England. And more recently, Sally’s joined the fray, opening a handful of Connecticut locations starting in 2021, and then their first location outside of Connecticut in Woburn, MA in late 2023. A recent visit of ours to Woburn, MA, finally gave me a chance to see how one of the “New Sally’s” is doing.
Walking into the Woburn location, you can see that Sally’s has taken a completely different tack from Pepe’s, who chose to try and continue the basic “early 20th century pizza joint” ambiance with a bit of modernity. Sally’s instead is going for a completely modern look; the ambiance is bright, spacious, and featuring floor to ceiling windows, which really changes the ambiance and put me in a bit of a different mindset from the start. But honestly, it’s not a bad space.
However, while the main dining room is indeed different, when you walk in, it has you walking right by their pizza kitchen, which actually bears a passing resemblance to the original in New Haven, slightly spartan, and built around efficiently building pizzas and getting them into the coal-fired oven.
One of the pizza chefs saw me taking pictures of the oven, and offered to let me actually see the oven itself, opening the coal loading door so I could see the coals. So yes, this satellite Sally’s location is definitely running a full-scale, full-temperature coal-fired oven.
As we looked over the menu, we enjoyed pints of the Sally’s Apilz house beer, which is a Czech / Bohemian Pilsner style beer brewed by Two Roads Brewing. A good brew in it’s own right, this pairs nicely with pizza without being overly hoppy.
Speaking of the menu, unlike the original Sally’s which has a very tightly focused menu that’s essentially “apizza, and a few salads”, the chain locations have a substantially wider menu, including a bunch of elaborate salads, pasta dishes, sandwiches, and the like. For the most part, this baffles me a bit (“You’re going to Sally’s and ordering… rigatoni?!”), but a few of the additions are actually nice. In particular, one I welcome is a wedge salad, since I adore a classic wedge of iceberg lettuce topped with bacon, dressing, and the like. The version at Sally’s is rather good, with a bold peppercorn dressing, and as a bonus, they roast the tomatoes. So, while it varies from “tradition”? This is a good change.
But the reason we came was “Apizza”, and Apizza we got, with sausage and mushrooms (one of my classic orders). And we weren’t disappointed. Everything here was good. The sauce tastes just like the classic Sally’s sauce, the dough is a perfect texture, and the pizza well cooked with just the right amount of char. This was an outstandingly good apizza, and definitely hits the spot if I’m craving that style. It’s a little off, like they are still figuring out the oven, but the fundamentals are strong.
Is it as good as Pepe’s? Oh God, no. Is it as good as the original Sally’s? Definitely a “No” here as well. Is it as good as The Modern? Again, no. But it’s about 90% as good as any of the Big 3. And a damn bit better than almost any of the other pizza places around. For being in Massachusetts? That’s actually quite a good accomplishment.
So yes, if you truly want a great New Haven Apizza… Go to New Haven. You won’t regret it. But if you find yourself wanting some good Apizza and happen to be by one of Sally’s satellite locations? Go for it. It’s still really good Apizza.
