Offbeat Eats

As I mentioned in our review of Sally’s Apizza Woburn, our travels recently have resulted in our having several visits to Woburn, MA, usually trying to get a meal before we head home. There’s an extremely high restaurant density in that part of Woburn, but on our various drive-bys, I had noticed one relative newcomer that looked worth checking out: Saigon Eatery.

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 peope 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.