Pete's New Haven Style Apizza
Row 1
“We know you need good pizza,” notes the website for Pete’s New Haven Style Apizza to its Washington, D.C., patrons. As anyone who has lived in or visited this East Coast swamp… er, city, over previous decades would agree, “Apizza, Amen.” As Neapolitan chewy crusts rapidly proliferate, there’s another, perhaps more interesting pizza trend that’s spreading slowly yet steadily: New Haven style, as pioneered by the venerable Frank Pepe (No. 1) in that Connecticut city.
And with Pete’s, Wooster Square-style is saving Washingtonians from pizza purgatory. The business (which has expanded to Arlington, Friendship Heights, and Silver Spring) is owned and managed, for the most part, by two couples who have connections to D.C. and Connecticut, some of whom have training from the Culinary Institute of America. The inspiration for Pete’s started with Joel and Alicia Mehr (Joel managed a pizzeria in Manhattan and Alicia grew up in New Haven County), who teamed up with Thomas Marr and Kerri Knowles-Marr, who attended the CIA (her family is from Connecticut). They’ve created a chef-driven, New Haven-style pizzeria founded on quality ingredients (they shred their own mozz ordered from a co-op of local farms in Wisconsin). The result? A charred, thin crust, a wide pie, and, well… just go. You’ll understand.
What to order? Ack. That’s tough. There are 20 different pies to choose from — in sizes small (9 inches), medium (14 inches), and very large (18 inches). The baseline in this case, of course, is the New Haven, an homage to the Frank Pepe original — a white pizza with clams, garlic, oregano, extra-virgin olive oil, and pecorino Romano. Though the Long Wharf, which adds shrimp, basil pesto, red onions, garlic, and lemon oil to local Chesapeake clams should be another next-level consideration.
Who’s Pete? There are two. Big Pete is Alicia Mehr’s father (he lived in New Haven), and Little Pete is her son with cofounder Joel Mehr. But, as their website notes, “If your name is Pete and you’re a regular, we’re named for you too.” As good as this pizza is, anyone who walks in the door should claim Pete as their middle name.
— Arthur Bovino, 101 Best Pizzas in America 2015, 8/6/2015
Foursquare Tips
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Pete's New Haven Style Apizza has partnered with Womply to offer $8 cash back after 3 visits -
Best pizza around! -
The lunch special is great - 2 slices and a drink for $5.95. -
The chef's choice is usually really good! -
Eat food -
Went there for lunch with the Fam today. Food was great and the service was even better. -
Try the Sorbillos Original. -
Venha, escolha qualquer sabor e qualquer cerveja e curta sua pizza. Excelente. -
Dessert advice: Meyer Lemon/Strawberry Rose sorbettos are fantastic. There's a small rectangular chocolate cake with hard chocolate icing that is good, too. Key Lime/Red Velvet were meh, cookies= bad. -
Not easily visible from the streettucked back behind the Metro stop, next to Five Guys -
Order a whole pieour favorite is the garlicky white clamor by the slice, which we like topped with sausage, mushrooms, and garlic. The Sorbillos Original is filling and flavor-packed. -
A lot of their soups are vegetarian-- do you know how rare that is in a world of chicken stock? Creamy Tomato Basil and Navy Bean are both excellent, CTB especially.
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Fresh gluten free cookies - Coconut peanut butter. -
Meh. It cut the roof of my mouth and the toppings didn't seem very fresh. Decent in a pinch. -
If you're getting a whole pie, consider the Staven. It's one of the best pizzas I've ever had. -
Pepperoni pizza is bomb -
Great pizza. Sign up for their email list for great discounts. -
Try the crispy goat cheese salad. -
Secret: for $3 they will sell you a giant lump of fresh pizza dough! Awesome if you want to make homemade pizza but are waaay too lazy to deal with things like yeast and waiting for dough to rise. -
2 slices and a small Caesar salad makes a great meal