Connecticut

• New Haven

  New Haven has an affinity for the old. This is, after all, a nearly 375-year-old New England city, with all the usual hallmarks: an Ivy League university (Yale); ­a spacious Puritan-constructed downtown “green,” or grassy town square; graceful if peeling Victorian architecture; even a nickname after trees (Elm City). Fortunately, that respect for the past extends to the historic city’s cuisine, defined as it is by a handful of old-school, family-owned, working-class businesses that keep tradition alive. There’s pizza, of course, an institution here ever since a Neapolitan immigrant named Frank Pepe began cooking “apizza” in his bakery on Wooster Street, igniting a trend—not to mention a distinct and delicious style of pie—that continues to draw legions of fans today. But other businesses—other remains of a once-larger Italian community, other beloved local products, even the country’s original “hamburger sandwich” purveyor—are likewise still run by third- or fourth-generation family members in New Haven. This is a town that values authenticity and tradition, a fact so obvious the minute you engage anyone behind a counter. It’s a long-ingrained love you can taste, too.

  The city has gone through a rough patch of economic downturn and high crime in recent years, but increasing signs of revitalization—a stronger-than-ever restaurant scene, an eclectic new co-op market, a shiny new Apple store—are afoot. We can only hope that the old keeps up with the new, and New Haven’s unique brand of family, tradition, and honest homecooked food survives for another hundred years.

  New Haven has an affinity for the old. This is, after all, a nearly 375-year-old New England city, with all the usual hallmarks: an Ivy League university (Yale); ­a spacious Puritan-constructed downtown “green,” or grassy town square; graceful if peeling Victorian architecture; even a nickname after trees (Elm City). Fortunately, that respect for the past extends to the historic city’s…   Read more

   

  Find local foods in New Haven.

  Apizza, tomato pie

  White clam pizza

  Hamburger sandwich

  Italian pastries, cookies, ices

  Calzone

• User Content

Below is user-submitted content for this region. Have something to contribute? Upload your regional-food photo or food memory.

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  Beer in Branford

  Branford
  lsr
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  CT lobster rolls

  Branford
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  Lobster roll

  Groton
  srosen
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  Mystic Cheese Melinda Mae local cheese

  New Haven
  lsr

• • My first sandwich

    zboehmova
    Hartford, Connecticut
    

    Second time ever on an airplane. First trip to a foreign country alone, and "Amerika" no less. I was picked up at the airport near the summer school at Mt. Holyoke that I was headed …    Read more

• Blog Posts

• New England Seafood Shacks: 3 to Try

  We always wish we had more time to explore the nooks and crannies of the New England coast, the quaint downtowns and salty enclaves nestled between our usual destinations of New Haven, Providence, Boston, and Cape Cod. But until we make that…   Read more

• Quintessential New Haven: What to Eat

  In a new series of city spotlights, we’ll sum up in quick bloggy format the essential dishes of destinations we cover in full elsewhere. Think of them as teasers, or perhaps appetizers for more! First up is one of our more recently covered…   Read more

• Food & Family in New Haven, Connecticut

  White clam pie from Frank Pepe’s. Last week in New Haven, Connecticut, we met the great-grandson of the man credited with inventing “hamburger sandwiches” in the U.S., the grandson of the creator of New Haven-style pizza,…   Read more